Beacon of Aincrad
by DStone
Summary: Ruby and Yang have waited a long time for the official release, When the day finally arrived the sister's were the first of 10,000 to get the game, and the only 2/100 to get the bonus. Now the sister's must fend for their lives in a VRMMORPG that could mean life or death for the girl's. Collab work with Topaz Smith. What you get when you take 2 die-hard RWBY fans, and 1's a SAO fan
1. The Fall

_**Beacon of Aincrad**_

 **Story Notes: First off, welcome to the new collab story everyone! So just a quick description for the plot. So this story is based from the Sword Art Online canon, with the characters and traits of RWBY's characters. This takes place in the start of the SAO arc, where Ruby and Yang are stuck in the game. A sort of side story to the main canon if you would. We have plans on adding a lot more of the RWBY canon characters, but I won't spoil it too much. Also, the story also follows the events from the english dubbed version, not the Japanese dubbed. And lastly, I know this might confuse some, but I will be writing my half of the chapters in Canadian standards, where we use feet and inches and shit, and Topaz will use his American standards, which I think is like yards or meters or something (Topaz put your standards in here I dunno what it is)[I don't know what this man is talking about. Imperial measurement system sucks, Metric all the way!]. Alright, so we'll use metric standards (thx Topaz). We will say which chapter's we did for those wondering. Without further ado, enjoy!**

 _ **Disclaimer: We do not own any of the series' or any of the character's used in this story, the anime's and their respective canon's are owned by Reki Kawahara (SAO) and Monty Oum (RWBY). The only thing we own of this fic is the story itself.**_

 _November 6, about 2 p.m._

It was a long wait in line, but it was worth every second as Ruby and Yang finally got home, about 1 hour after the initial start. The two girls were the luckiest, they were the two out of the 100 gamers in-line to receive the 'Early Bird' DLC. Included in said DLC was a bunch of new and exclusive weapons, armour, clothing and perks available at the very start of the game. Ruby squealed in glee, she had been waiting anxiously for the game to come out. The girl wanted to be a beta tester badly, but due to her age and height restrictions she wasn't qualified for such a thing. So the next best thing was camping out 3-4 days at the store waiting for the game's release. Yang, although not as much a game enthusiast as Ruby, stuck with the little redhead for the full thing, getting groceries and saving their spot for the few days they camped out.

Ruby bolted up the stairs and to her room, plugging in her nervegear as she went to the online store. Yang took glance at the eager little girl, giving a smirk as she walked into the shared bedroom and glanced over Ruby's shoulder.

"Downloading the DLC, smart." Yang commented, plugging in her nervegear as well to her laptop as she too went to the store.

"Well, why wouldn't I? It's the DLC only 100 people out of 10,000 copies got, and we're 2 of those lucky 100 people," Ruby stared at the DLC preview, pulling up a picture of a large scythe model. "Aawww…."

Yang chuckled. "You certainly like your weapons," She proclaimed, though was heard on zoned out ears as Ruby pet her computer monitor, almost drooling on her keyboard. The blonde sighed as she got up, shaking the little girl back to reality. "Why don't you get a little shut eye while you wait for the download? It says it'll be like, half an hour."

Ruby's head shot down, unsure of her own motives. "B-but, the game.."

"Here. I'll put on a timer that'll go off in 30 minutes, you can lay down and cuddle up with me if you like?" The brawler offered, setting up a timer as she awaited her response. Ruby finally accepted the blonde's request as said blonde turned on the timer, putting it above her on the headrest as she laid down on the bed. The little girl laid down with her sister, nestling up to Yang's chest as the eldest wrapped her arms around the girl and vice versa. Soon The younger's eyes got heavy as she fell to sleep in her older sister's embrace, cuddling up with the blonde as she dreamed of the game and the new content about to be downloaded.

The nap felt rather short, yet sweet as Ruby and Yang both awoke to the sound of the latter's phone going off. Yang went to go turn off her phone and back to bed, while Ruby bolted out of the room to go to the bathroom, returning exactly a minute later. The eldest got up and checked the download process, finding both headgears were finished downloading the exclusive content. Ruby slipped into something more comfortable as Yang readied the two nervegears for launch. After the redhead was finished they both grabbed their helmet-like game devices and slipped it on, laying back down on the bed as the two sister's got comfortable and intertwined their opposite hand's together.

"Ready?" Yang asked her younger sister.

"Ready." The younger replied. The two took deep breaths, readying themselves as the wait was finally over. They both took one last breath of real world air, ready to start their adventures.

" **Link Start!** "

* * *

The area around them turned to a blur as the game started, checking the girls' senses as it displayed on the right of the screen. After all senses were checked off the system then went on to language, confirming it was Japanese as the game continued. The system entered the login's of the two girls as it proceeded to the start up message, soon the message zoomed past as the game finally finished loading, bringing the two to the initial startup area on _Floor 1: Town of Beginnings_. The two arrived in a flash of light-blue light, dropping them off at the center of the town.

"Ruby? Is that you?" A woman's voice asked the redhead as she approached slowly. Ruby turned to the sound of the voice, finding a slightly tanned woman with a long, golden mane as well as Lilac eyes. The woman appeared to have a slight bulge in muscle tone in her biceps and legs, as well as her womanly area's. She wore simple black short-shorts and a yellow shirt as well as leather armour on her chest and shoulders, leading to her elbow.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, the young redhead too had long, red hair that stopped just past her shoulders. Though the younger's parts weren't exactly as grown in as her sister's, her arms and legs were just about the same bulge density. The little girl had pale white skin as well as silver eyes to tie it all in. The two smiled happily as they embraced one another, separating as the younger took a look around.

"This place is awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, excited to start her first adventure in SAO.

"Just wait a second," Yang told the young girl, pulling up her menu and the friends list soon after. "One of my friends was a beta tester in this game, as well as her sister. They can give us a few tips to start." She told Ruby as they walked through the town.

The place was relatively busy around the market areas, while most started the game early upon receiving it, including some of the early buyers of said game, some decided to stay around the town and conversate. Ruby and Yang looked around the market in awe at the graphics and effects present in the game, unconsciously holding each other's hand as they watched the players and the NPC's alike. Soon a buzz came from Yang's direction as a message prompt was displayed. The blonde pressed the message, opening up a small paragraph.

"Uh, uh huh…" Yang read, rubbing her chin with her free hand as she depicted the message.

"What does it say?" The younger asked her eldest as they turned a corner.

"Oh, I just asked my beta friend for tips and stuff. She told me to go out to the fields to try out the combat system and what-not." Yang answered, closing the message board.

"Oh, that reminds me," Ruby opened up her menu, scrolling through her clothing menu. "*Gasp* oh they have the outfit I have IRL!"

The Redhead tapped the screen, making her current attire change before her in a flash of light as she slipped into a light grey long-sleeve shirt, a black pinafore with a corset design overtop and a small, red caped scarf. Underneath resided a red skirt, black stockings and black and red punkish boots, and lastly to add to the touch a small rose pattern on the side of her belt (Slayer outfit).

Yang jokingly wolf-whistled to the girl, seeing the new outfitted girl before her. "Damn girl, now you look like a real badass!"

Ruby continued as she opened up her weapons section, scrolling through until she found what she was looking for. "Oh, there's my baby."

She tapped the screen, and with another flash of light a large black scythe with a regular steel blade appeared before her. The little girl gawked at the large blade she held, a smile erupting on her face as she held the magnificent weapon. Ruby soon trapped the weapon in a hug as she swayed back and forth with the scythe in her arms.

"Uh, Ruby, remember where we are?" Yang asked her sister calmly, the redhead returned to reality, well, in-game reality as she froze up a bit in embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." The young scythe wielder stated, a light glow of red emitting from her face as she sheathed her weapon on her back. It was Yang's turn to arm herself as she scrolled through the DLC inventory, coming up to a pair of steel cestuses and leather arm bracers. She glanced at the new pieces of equipment on her arms as she nodded in satisfaction.

"Xiao Long likes." Yang admitted, stretching out her fingers as they all cracked individually. The two sisters continued to press on through the market district as the other people watched in awe.

"Ah, what? They got the exclusive DLC!" One of them exclaimed in shock as the person pointed. Soon the district was filled with whispering and gossip of the two DLC wielding players.

"Yeah, those two. The new scythe and cestuses from the DLC…"

"I wonder if we kill them, will they drop the items and allow us to take it?.."

"Lucky bitches, I wish I had the little girl's outfit…"

Yang noticed the extremely arising gossip, grabbing Ruby's hand as they both ran. "Come on, before it gets too hectic." The older said, to which the younger nodded.

 _About 4 p.m_. 1st Floor field area

Ruby and Yang now stood in the fields of the first floor, both looking through their inventories for the exclusive DLC perks and what-not. Ruby found a perk that gave her incredible speed when heavy weapons were equipped, whilst Yang found one that allowed her to amplify damage, and resistance to attacks when health was low. With the new techniques in-hand, the two tried out their weapons in the field.

Ruby tried out her weapon first. Finding a wild boar, she readied her weapon as Yang read the last text she got from her friend.

"Alright. She says to ready yourself in a fighting stance, pull your weapon back and the game's sword skill will kick on." Yang instructed her younger sister. Ruby complied with the older, setting herself in a stance as she pulled back her weapon. Soon, a red glow started emitting from the large scythe's blade.

"Okay, then what?" Ruby asked, turning her head to her sister.

"Then 'go with the flow' and the system will do the rest." Yang finished.

"Go with the flow…" Ruby mumbled, focusing on her docile opponent. "Mr. Bacon, you're going down."

Ruby started to charge at the wild pig, letting out a small battle cry as she pressed on. The boar noticed this and faced the redheaded scythe wielder, it too starting to charge. As soon as the animal was a few feet away Ruby swung her weapon to the side, a blast of energy rushing past as the little girl ended up a foot past the boar. The tiny animal squealed as it shattered to little light-blue digital triangles, evaporating in the air. With it a small battle summary appeared, showing the amount of XP and Cor awarded. The little redhead jumped in the air as she celebrated her first victory, letting out a howl as she raised her weapon in the air.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Ruby shouted to her sister, running up to the blonde as said girl smiled.

"You're a natural born scythe wielder," The blonde admitted, rubbing the girl's head in appraisal. "Good job."

"Oh, you have to try it Yang! It's amazing!" Ruby exclaimed, dragging her to the next small monster. "Come on!"

Yang stepped up to bat as she awaited Ruby to get another boar's attention. The little red scythe wielder ran back to the blonde in a panic. "U-um, we might have a small problem." Ruby told her sister.

"What? What happened?" Yang asked. Ruby simply pointed to the horizon, a small dust cloud kicked up in the distance, charging towards them.

"I um.. Might've gotten more than one boar's attention." Ruby proclaimed, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry."

The blonde smirked as she rubbed the little girl's head. "It's alright, just gives me more practice!" She concluded, cracking her knuckles as the blonde got into a brawling stance.

* * *

 _5:20 p.m._

The two girls panted lightly as the fight was almost over. Yang threw a punch out, an ethereal golden fist shot out a foot ahead of her, knocking back a monster as it disappeared. The brawler followed up with a swing to the ground, smashing the last boar to the ground as the dirt caved in a bit, leaving sharp shards around the crater as the last pig evaporated. The brute panted lightly as she knelt to one knee, soon after sitting down.

"Yaaang!" Ruby called out, running up to the blonde as she sheathed her weapon and wrapped her arms around the sister's neck. The elder of the two smiled as she rubbed the girl's head from behind her.

"It's alright, just a little tired's all." Yang assured, getting back up. The two smiled as they walked over to a small tree, sitting down as they leaned up against it and watched the beautiful digital afternoon sun shine it's orange beauty all over Aincrad. The girl's exhaled in bliss, happy to play SAO after a long time of waiting.

"You know, I always had a knack for MMORPG's," Yang told her little sister. "Though I don't really like swords and stuff as much as you do, this game has blown my mind drastically."

The youngster giggled. "You never know something until you try it." Ruby returned.

The older chuckled too, letting the peaceful moment arise as they basked in the glory of the game. After a moment or two the brawler sighed, getting up from the tree. "As much as I'd like to stay a little longer, I gotta go do the dishes. You're welcome to stay here if you like Rubes."

"Okay." The young redhead replied, getting up from her spot as she gave her sister a hug, before walking up to the dirt path together. Yang opened her menu, going through the settings to the system menu, though something odd arisen.

"Wait, what?" Yang questioned, turning to Ruby. "Rubes, see if your logout button's there for a second."

"Why, what's wrong?" Ruby asked, pulling up her menu as well.

"The logout button isn't there, see?" Yang said to her sister, pointing to a blank button at the bottom of the bar.

"Well, mine's…" Ruby scrolled down to hers, finding it blank as well. "Not there either?"

"Wait, what?" Yang asked, looking over Ruby's shoulder to see the same identical menu. "What the fuck?!"

"Relax Yang. Bad goes to worse dad will just come into our rooms and remove the nervegear from our noggins." Ruby assured, comforting the older girl.

"But, don't you think it's weird the game doesn't have the one thing that returns us from the virtual world to real life?" Yang shivered, going to the help option as it rung the GM. "I've got an eerie feeling about this.."

"Relaaax, Yang. Look, it's almost 5:30, dad'll be home at around 6:15. We'll tell him that we couldn't log out of the game and tomorrow we'll go back to the store and get a replacement. If they have any that is," Ruby said calmly, trying to keep the blonde comforted as best she could. The redhead knew the brute had moments where she could snap easily, and this was probably one of them. "Don't worry, the server guy's are probably fixing this right no-"

Suddenly, a bell rung throughout the floor. A low, monotonous chime sounded through the fields, making the girls look towards the sound. "A bell?"

All of a sudden the sisters were engulfed in a bright light, teleporting them both at the same time. They soon arrived back at the startup area in the Town of Beginnings, looking around to see many other people transported here as well, along with the continuous flashes of light that accompanied them. Chattering soon sounded around the place as the players all pondered to the situation. The younger sister looked to her eldest, the latter doing the same as they came closer.

"W-what's going on?" Ruby asked, a frightened voice to her as she looked around and hugged the older girl.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're about to find out." Yang answered, pointing to a red stretched-out polygon that flashed in the sky not too far from the area. Soon the shape stopped flashing red as it spread all across the sky, trapping the people in a red void as a similar coloured liquid started to ooze out of the creases of the shapes. The ooze started to form into a body, transforming into a hooded figure that floated above the whole startup area.

"Oh, fuck.." Yang murmured as the two watched the events about to unfold.

The hooded figure lifted its arms up to the sides as it begun to speak.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world,"

" _My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world_ …"

* * *

 _After the speech._

"...Players, I wish you the best of luck."

Soon, the man behind it all, Akihiko Kayaba, started to evaporate back into the ceiling, returning the world back to it's original evening sky as silence dawned on the center of the town. Yang looked at her younger sibling, who now had shorter, darker red hair with the same red highlight in the front, as well her face returned to the original pale white complexion she knew well. The older girl looked at the mirror given, finding her tanned skin was returned to it's original pale white and her facial features were similar to the one in the real world.

Ruby looked to her older sibling, noticing the difference instantly.

"Y..Yang.." The young girl spoke, shocked to see her actual appearance in the virtual world. The blonde had a stunned look as well, as she cupped the little redhead's cheeks.

"Your face, it's.. Changed." The brawler stated, feeling the silky smoothness of her hair as well. Soon the crowd started to panic as fights broke out and people started to scramble around. One of the people bumped into Ruby, making the girl fall to the ground as she was surrounded by people, cupping her head out of fear.

" **Get away from HER!** " Yang shouted, ploughing through the scared crowd of players in front of the redhead as she picked her sister up. Her regular lilac eyes changed to red as she protected her sister. Suddenly, a message prompt appeared in front of the blonde brute. Opening it to see a quick and easily understood message.

" _GET OUT OF THERE._ "

Without hesitation, Yang scooped up Ruby and bolted off to the exit of the center of town, kicking and pushing her way to freedom. Soon she got out of the area as she bolted down the alleyways, stopping when she knew the coast was clear. Yang watched as a black haired boy talked to a redheaded skinny man before both turned their separate ways. Another message prompt arrived as Yang opened it up.

"Come to this location, do not bring anyone." Said the message, giving a location pinpoint to the blonde. The older continued to carry the younger in her arms as she went to the location, which wasn't far from the exit. Soon two figures in white appeared in front of the alleyway, both females as they looked at the siblings.

"I told you not to bring anyone." The younger said to the brute.

"She is my sister, and I will bring her wherever I go from now on," The brute instructed, a tone of hostility in her voice as she looked at the two. The white haired girl raised her hands in peace.

"Sorry, I didn't know you had a sister," The white haired stated. "Calm down Yang."

"Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down when that introverted freaky _fuck_ Akihiko Kiss-my-ass just told us we're trapped in a game of survival?! Especially with my little sister?!"

"This is _my_ little sister right here," The older white haired woman returned, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I am worried too, for my sister's sake and mine. But I am also calm. Stressing out in a critical time like this is not wise, or good, for any of us. Which is why we need to work together. Calmly, and collectively."

Yang's breathing turned from a slightly panicked to a more calmer pace, relaxing a bit as she looked at the two. "You're right," The blonde admitted, looking to Ruby, who was slightly shaking. "If we're to get out of here alive we need to be calm."

The other two nodded, the youngest opening her map soon after. "Alright. If we stay here, the areas around here'll be hunted dry, till they resort to hunting each other for XP and other resources, especially you two," The younger informed, pointing at the two siblings. "Because you wield some of the DLC items, people will know you have exclusive content. Unless you hide your stuff all the time, which is unwise, I'd just suggest you pick your friends wisely."

"We need to move to the next village, which is not too far from here. Before the other player's come out of their shellshock and press on." The older concluded.

"Alright, we'll leave soon." Yang told the others.

"W-wait, who are you? A-and, why are you helping us?" Ruby asked in her shaky tone of voice.

"I'm Winter, this is my younger sister Weiss," Winter greeted the younger with a comforting handshake. "We were beta testers for SAO. Weiss informed me that her best friend Yang was trapped here too, so we wanted to help as much as possible."

"U-um, thank you.." Ruby said to the younger white haired girl. Said girl smirked as she rested her hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I've known your sister for years, she and I are best friends. So trust me when I say that you are in great hands." Weiss replied, soon returning her arm back.

"You guys go on ahead, me and Ruby have to talk about it a bit." Yang informed them, the two nodded in compliance.

"We will press on then. I hope to see you two again soon," Winter replied, giving the younger redhead a small hug to comfort her, as did the sister of the woman as they began to walk away. "Just message us anytime, we'll see what we can do to help."

The older waved goodbye to the girls as she turned to Ruby, who was on the verge of tears now. Upon seeing this, she pulled her sister into a caring hug. "It's okay Ruby, we will get out of this together."

"I-I'm scared Yang.. What happens if we die?" Ruby sobbed, "I don't wanna die.."

"And we won't. We'll get out of this game together, and return to the world we both know. I won't EVER leave you," Yang assured her sister. "I promise."

The two siblings stood there for what felt like hours. Yang sat down against the house, with Ruby in her arms as she calmed the younger girl down. Soon the redhead felt tired as she closed her eyes, falling to a deep sleep as she snored in the blonde's embrace. Yang smirked, picking up the girl as she carried her in a piggyback style, running off out of the town and down the trail. The blonde looked to the horizon, knowing the journey would be long and unforgiving.

" _I won't leave you_."

 **Heyo! So just a quick A/N First off, a shout out to my bro** _ **Topaz Smith**_ **, we've agreed and disagreed and finally worked out something that not only 1 awesome writer likes, but 2. And we've come to terms with this collab work. So personally thank you man, You come up with crazy idea's, I love it. I strongly recommend his work, especially** _ **Wishes From Beyond Space and Time**_ **. I love it and hope to work some more on it with you.**

 **Secondly, I quick celebration, cuz I've accomplished 2 milestones again today. I finally got to work with another outstanding fanfic writer, AND I got to make a crossover story. So yeah, a quick woot woot for that. So as always, stay tuned.**

 _ **This is Topaz. Yo. Anyone familiar with me knows the deal, Read, Review, Live life well. See you in Chapter 2; Mirror Mirror.**_

 _ **-Topaz Smith**_


	2. Mirror Mirror

**Hello Fanfiction audience, woah is it september already? Man do I feel slow.**

 **In any case for those who would like an explanation I am currently preparing for a move up to North Carolina and so haven't had nearly the time I need to write.**

 **Enough of my excuses though, it's time to respond to you lovely reviewers.**

 **Starting with Striker Sigma- I can see why you would say that. I can only say that this story is not truly about ships and will have as little direct involvement with Kirito as possible.**

 **ReviewerDWJ- Thought it was obvious that at the end of the chapter it was Winter and Weiss they were talking to but if you needed more this chapter is for you**

 **Qrow's Talon- I have no intention of letting this die. You may not get every second chapter any sooner than a month later but it won't die.**

 **DownTownAlpha- While I would love to answer your question with a real answer all I can say is "spoilers", I would however like to thank you for your support.**

 **Snap Dragon- I feel the awkwardness with trying to say something in a review. Or that was a subtle jab at my slowness. Either way, thank you.**

 **Finally Ashley- Firstly, yes it's a total mix of both. Be afraid while creaming yourself sure. Secondly, I don't know if you've read my work or DStone's but we ship Ruby and Weiss like FedEx as well. This story isn't really about the ships but if we end up doing it we end up doing it.**

 **Anyway now that's done it's high time we begin. Further commentary will be given by the lovely host of this story right about… now.**

* * *

 **Heyo! Welcome back mofos to the next chapter of BOA! It's DStone here, and holy fuck, I've been quite busy. Just to sum up my situation, I finally got a date for my G2 test, I'm taking co-op and shit and I ain't got wifi at my house. So for those wondering no, I haven't died or anything, just my profile that's all. Also I'm working on the next chapter of TWR, it's complicated but I have made a chapter for it, I just don't like it. So I'm making another one and will maybe edit and post that one as an alternate read for you guys, cuz it is pretty long and stuff. Anywho. I'd like to say thanks to Topaz for finally getting this out, I love what happened and can't wait for the next chapters of this story. As he's stated in the reviews, we won't EXACTLY follow the SAO canon, we'll include the two in small events in the canon and maybe in like the other parts not seen in the show. We won't let it die! It will thrive. After all, IT'S ALIVE! *cough cough* sorry, lost track of my shit. We haven't really made an official plan as for ships. Topaz and I have talked about it, and there's some ships we will consider and other's that are just like 'fuck no'. I'm pretty good with most ships, and I respect Topaz's opinion, but yeah. We will get onto it a little more, maybe soon, maybe not at all. But anyways, as always. Stay Tuned!**

* * *

 _November 4th, 3:00 p.m._

"Y'ello? This is Yang Xiao Long, may I ask who is speaking?" Questioned The blonde.

"Yang, please spare me the routine. I know two things; firstly that you have caller ID, and secondly that you have my picture set to your contacts."

"Sorry Weiss, couldn't help but try. What did you want?"

"I wanted to ask what you've been up to over the break. We haven't been out together in a while,"

In fact it had been long since the heiress and her odd friend had talked as well. They were on holiday from school and as per usual they both spent it busy with their family. "And I remember that yesterday was… well it was the anniversary correct?" The alabaster girl asked, contemplating the actual date.

"It was yeah… Me and Rubes had to pay our respects at separate times though. She's had me and her alternating holding our spot in this line for nearly a week. That game you beta'd for is coming out soon and Ruby is stoked for it." Yang replied, a faint tint of regret evident in her voice as Yang spoke. The fact that they spent their grieving time like this must have saddened the blonde girl a little, she decided not to let that affect the conversation though as the blonde wouldn't have mentioned it for sympathy's sake.

"So little Ruby is holding out for the DLC is she? Well i'm glad I will finally get to meet her," The heiress spoke. Off in the distance Weiss heard a voice calling for her which sadly signalled the end of the call with her dear friend, "I'm sorry Yang, it appears I am needed elsewhere."

"That's alright. Talk to you later Ice Queen." With that Weiss hung up. Responding to such obvious bait would only result in her never actually ending the call. It was still two days till the release of SAO and she and Winter had pre ordered it anyways, no need to stress over it. So she went to go and deal with whatever it was that she was being called for.

* * *

 _November 6th. About 1:30 p.m._

"Weiss are you finished with all your assignments?" Winter asked, turning her office chair around to face her younger sister.

"Yes sister dearest. Now if you are also done with whatever work you need may we finally begin our first proper dive?" Weiss replied, with slight eagerness in her calm, collective tone.

Weiss was never quite pleased when her sister went on about the work their father gave them. In fact given the stress their father put upon her succession to the company she was honestly surprised that Winter had managed to get permission for them to not only beta test the game but to also play the full release. Weiss figured Winter had used practical training as an excuse of some sort.

The older sister gave a slight nod towards Weiss as she turned towards their game room. Top of the line french reclining chairs for comfort and state of the art nervegears sat in front of them atop their designated shelving spot. The pair each took their seats and put on their headgear. They gave each other one look before turning to face front and turn on their devices. Selecting Sword Art Online from the menu as the screen started to fade to white.

 **"Link Start"**

* * *

The first thing the heiress felt was the gentle breeze upon her face, then she heard the voices of the people who had logged on before them. Finally she saw the town once more with as much detail as she remembered. Weiss truly had returned to the game she had loved to play so much. The girl took a few steps forward, though stopped abruptly as her face made contact with the digital ground

 _"Maybe I shouldn't have chosen to wear heels."_

A small series of giggles could be heard behind the befallen heiress following the incident. She turned to see a tall woman with hair as white as hers tied in a bun, struggling to hold back a laugh.

"If I had any doubts about who you were, the inability to walk in heels would have fixed that." The woman was very obviously her sister Winter as no one else would dare treat Weiss that way. Then she realized that other people wouldn't know it was her. All they could see was her screen name, _**Snow White**_ , and as such she was just another person here.

"Winter, as much as I would love to entertain your sense of humour we should really get started on our kit. Rapiers are more our fashion than long swords, and those cost money," Weiss stated. "Now chop-chop sister! As you and father say; 'Time is Money'."

With that Weiss merely stood and strolled forth as if she had been born walking in high heels. Her sister, having used her name for a screen name, followed behind smirking as the people around them stared in confusion at the two. They had made quite a scene, and neither of them wished to remain there.

Out in the fields the sisters split up. They both knew how to deal with the local boar population, so this way they could more efficiently make the col they needed to outfit themselves. It was at this moment as Weiss slain her third boar that she found herself being charged with nowhere to run to.

 _"I wonder if that still works..."_

She waited as the boar charged tusks first towards her. _"Left foot forward… not that forward."_ Finally as the beast was barely outside of attack range she readied herself, bringing her blade forward to block the attack and subsequently staggering it. She then did a backflip onto the rock wall behind her, blade pointed towards the boar, and leaped forward skewering the beast onto her blade.

 _"And that makes four."_

After cleaning her blade and collecting her rewards she heard the ping from the UI indicating that a friend logged into the game she was in, the name read DracoBlaze. The name still made Weiss chuckle every time she saw it. That happened to be the screen name of her friend Yang. Not too long after, she noticed a message from her friend asking for starter tips. Not too difficult a request after all, so she complied.

"Dear Yang,

I have three tips for you to start off with. Firstly, I would recommend that you go out into the areas outside of town and get used to the combat system, it is an unusual system and it would do you well to hone it before the other people playing the game.

Secondly, you should decide on a main combat style; whether it be speed-based or power-based, and decide on at least one non-combat skill to cultivate because despite this be a fighting MMO, killing monsters is not the easiest way to gain money.  
Thirdly, I would recommend either waiting for Winter and I to return to the city, or to go and find some other fresh players and form a party with them. It will make the acquisition of early game exp. simpler than if you were to do it by yourself.

I have no other simple recommendations so until we meet that is all.

Yours Truly,  
~Weiss Schnee~"

After sending the message Weiss closed the menu and went to hunt more game.

* * *

 _About 5:30 p.m._

A few hours had passed since the two sisters had signed into the game. Suddenly she received a ping from Winter. 'Probably gloating about reaching her goal first,' Weiss figured.

The message read: "Meet me at our hill, I need to talk to you about something.". Puzzled by this request, Weiss started the trek towards the meeting place. It wasn't really 'their' hill, it was more so where they always had stopped to take a break. It was a decently sized bump in the plains that overlooked the town, one lone tree stood upon it to give shade, and it always had a gentle breeze rolling across it at around 5. Upon arriving at the location Weiss saw her sister standing atop it with a rather grim look on her face. Weiss climbed the hill and gave her sister a concerning look as she approached the older woman.

"Look in your menu Weiss, do you have a logout option?"

"That's a stupid question Winter, of course I do-, wait no… that can't be right. It must be…" suddenly Weiss' own face darkened as she looked back up toward her sister. As they both stood with disbelief apparent in their faces they saw a figure appear in the center of town, his voice booming across the plains as well as in the town.

"Attention players, I welcome you to my world, **"**

" _ **My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment**_ _ **,**_ _ **I am in control of this world…"**_

* * *

Log date 0.

This is the private journal of Winter Schnee,

As I write this we are trapped inside Aincrad, the world inside the VRMMORPG Sword Art Online. Much of the past hour-or-so is a blur for me, the most I can remember clearly is that the creator welcomed us, gave each player a Mirror, and that looking into the mirror transformed me, my sister, and presumably the rest of the player base into replicas of our real life selves.

My sister, as gentle as she is, invited her school mate Yang Xiao Long to run away with us as to save her from the chaos and confusion going on in the Town of Beginnings. I had sent the message and told her to come alone, but the girl came with another player who claims to be her sister Ruby Rose. It confuses me how they are sisters yet have different names, though that hardly matters at the moment.

Weiss and I began to head towards a town in the north west of the first floor while Yang and Ruby stay behind for a bit to come to terms with this reality. Either they will catch up soon or they will likely not survive as it seems death is final in this game. I hope not to see many deaths in the coming days, but it is merely that.

 _And sadly hope itself is a fleeting thing these days..._

Trapped and with no way out the four of us should, if we keep this pace up, make it to the city by dawn well ahead of any other players. Hopefully this way we can prepare ourselves appropriately and not become prey to psychotic PKs before the population of the game can clear the 100th floor.

As I write this my sadness becomes more and more apparent with each word. This will be the end of this log as I fear I will be unable to continue if I write anymore. To whomever will be reading this know that these logs are a firsthand account and that they will continue when I am in a more stable emotional state.

 _~Winter Schnee~_


	3. Remnants of Hope

_Nov. 24th._ _In Tolbana: Town Square. 1st Floor._

It had been almost a month since Sword Art Online's release. A month passed since the deathtrap of a game was opened to society, and the results were gruesome. Nearly 2,000 people committed suicide, all because of the rather unfortunate reality. And the worst part was that no one had even caught sight of the boss in the duration of that time span. The players stuck in the game were beginning to lose faith. They were becoming tired, restless.

 _They were running out of hope._

Weiss had called Yang for an emergency meeting at the town square, to catch up on the most recent news between her. She had invited Winter to come, but the older Schnee had more important things to attend to, mostly talking with other beta testers and players about the conflicting issue with the boss, leaving Weiss to meet Yang alone.

The heiress sat down on a bench in the little park area, watching the clouds roll by and the digital birds chirp in the background. Though all of it was fake, it was still the best immersion she had experienced all her life. Weiss had heard of the technology that Kayaba was constructing, but she had brushed it off as impossible, unattainable, to render such atmospheres would be hard and tricky. But Akihiko had somehow found a way, and the moment Weiss heard of the miraculous technology she had to see it for herself. Long story short, she was awestruck that the man had developed such a thing.

Suddenly. Weiss felt a hand pat her side, turning her head to see the person she'd been waiting for, Yang Xiao Long. Said girl looked different than when they had first met, after the announcement of their captivity. The woman looked to be wearing a sleeveless yellow hoodie and black short shorts with a sort of purple bandana-looking skirt draping behind it, reaching almost to her knees. Her bracers she had worn were different as well. Small spikes coated a leather looking bracer, and her hands were covered in chains, for increased attack, Weiss assumed. Yang gave the heiress the biggest relief tugging grin as they stood up and hugged, retracting from their embrace as they sat down next to each other on the bench.

"So how much of that is really for effect and not looks?" Weiss asked her friend, not quite sure about the mechanics of the DLC she had

Yang gave her friend a grin. "Aw come on. You gotta look fabulous even in battle!" Yang shot back, making 'O's with her hands. "Especially coming from a Schnee."

Weiss smiled as her friend responded. She was right in the end though, Schnee's were supposed to always look their best, though Weiss always favoured a mix of both form and function. This was reflected in her choice of equipment. She wore white boots with socks leading up to her thighs that increased her speed. Her skirt, which was originally pure white, now flashed from white to a very light blue as it went up, the blue dye used increased its defensive power for a relatively low cost, her shirt matching this style. Under her shirt she had a black undershirt merely for cosmetic reasons, and her hair was done in a ponytail to the side, held in place by a snowflake beret.

"That's all well and good Yang. But more to the point, we should discuss what we've done this last month," Weiss grimaced as she recalled it all, she had witnessed three of the suicides personally and due to this she was sleep deprived. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw those three again, except their faces were replaced with her friends; Yang jumping off Aincrad, Ruby slitting her throat, and Winter letting herself be ripped in half and eaten by a monster. She tried not to think about it while she was awake and preferred to pour her energy into finding a way out this mess. "Have you had better luck in searching for the boss?"

Yang sighed, shaking her head defeatedly. "No, Me and Ruby have looked all around this damn place. We've been everywhere on this god forsaken floor and haven't found fuck-all."

Yang shook her head once more, looking down at the ground. "Nothing. Not even a special door or anything…"

The blonde coursed her hands down her face, trying to alleviate the stress of the digital world from her. "I can't take it here anymore Weiss. Everyday I wake up to a life bar and my gamertag floating over my face, I look up to a digital sun, and roam fake grasslands all day. I worry that Ruby will.. that she'll…"

"Ruby will be fine Yang, she just needs her sister to be there for her. Maybe since we've had no luck apart we could go together this time." Weiss spoke, giving a light smile to her friend as she put her hand over Yang's and rested it upon her cheek. "There is one last area Winter and I haven't checked. We deemed it too dangerous to scout out on our own. Ironically that makes it the most likely point for the boss to be in hindsight"

She looked to her friend as she watched her broken expression come back together into a slight smirk.

"Are you sure? I don't want to put you in danger." Yang asked, a look of worry in her eyes.

"If anyone is being put in danger here it's you and Ruby, how is she holding up anyways? Last I saw she wasn't taking it well." Weiss reassured her friend, whilst changing the subject.

Yang smirked slightly. "She's doing alright actually, a lot better than the first day in here. She knows of the dangers and she's cautious, but she's learned to push past it and try to enjoy this life the best she can. Ruby's even found her.. Um, friend."

Weiss wasn't sure whether the subject or the pause bothered her more, either way Yang had never done something like it before and she wasn't going to do it now.

"Yang, I mean really. You're obviously hiding something more serious than just 'a friend'. I figure you've known me long enough that you can tell me just about anything. So come on, spill."

"Well, i-it's… it's umm…" Yang was finding it hard to speak, trying to find the right words to say what she meant, all the while Weiss gave her an impatient stare as she stammered. "What's the word.."

Yang took a deep breath, turning her gaze back to Weiss. "Ruby's, friend, isn't exactly... a friend… It's more." she tried to answer, leaving Weiss more puzzled than before. "They're dating."

"And what was so hard about saying that? You think I'm going to judge someone on their taste in men?" Weiss said, both utterly confused and slightly frustrated at the lack of trust.

"Well, um. That's the thing, Penny isn't a guy." Yang finally stated, leaving Weiss slightly dumfounded.

"O-oh…" Weiss managed to mutter with a deep blush erupting on her cheeks. "I-is that so? I think I understand your hesitation now."

Silence hung thick in the conversation as Weiss tried to understand the situation. Finally, the heiress cleared her throat. "So… may I ask about this Penny? Or would that be slightly too intrusive?"

"N-no! It's okay, you'll have to meet her eventually," Yang stated, shaking her hands out in response. "She has ginger hair, a pink bow, she wears a kind of greyish dress, and black leggings with green stripes. She's.. Um..," Yang shrugged, "Well, you're just gonna have to see for yourself."

"In that case… why don't you call them over? I'll just shoot Winter a message in that case." With that Weiss turned away and started going through her menu, leaving Yang sitting there mildly surprised at how awkward the moment had arose.

"A-alright, I'll message them the plan." Yang replied.

"And you can meet Penny."

* * *

 _About half an hour after sending messages_.

Yang and Weiss decided it'd be best to go get some food and coffee, since the two had no idea when they'd get another chance to. While they awaited the redhead's arrival, and the meeting of Penny, the two talked about their most recent adventures in the game. Weiss felt like she lacked in her sword skill, even with the attack system helping her. Sometimes her blade would slip out of her grip, other's her balance in high heels faltered as she fell on her ass. Sure, she had fenced all her life since she was young, but the atmosphere and other factors in the game tested her skills to the max. The blade skills would sometimes throw her off, leaving her unbalanced, flimsy, and ultimately, vulnerable.

The conversation was halted as two figures walked up to their outside table, the two looking up to find Ruby in a slightly different attire, and a girl with ginger hair standing beside her. The duo stood up, both smiling at the newly approaching people as Weiss and Ruby gave each other a simple hug.

"Weiss, it's so good to see you!" Ruby spoke, a beaming smile formed at her lips.

"It's so good to meet you as well!" The ginger haired woman interjected, turning the attention to her. "Oh, sorry. Did I say that too soon?"

"I take it you would be Penny, correct," An enthusiastic nod came as a reply to her question while Weiss turned back to Ruby, "It's good to see you both."

Yang was next up for greeting, giving both her usual bearhug. "Ooohh, it's good to see you two again!" Yang spoke, lifting both off the ground.

"Yaaanng… Can't.. Breathe.." Ruby gasped. Yang let go of the two as Ruby bent over to catch her breath. Meanwhile Penny stood, unaffected by the woman's grip.

"Sorry sis, I gotta get at least one gigantic Yang-hug from ya every day, doctor prescribed." Yang spoke, giving an 'ok' with her fingers.

"Which doctor prescribed you hugs from your sister?" Penny spoke, a confused look on her face. "Whichever one he or she is, I don't think they are legitimate."

Yang's head shot down, brushing off the girl's personality as she looked to Weiss. Whom was quietly observing her as she watched the event.

"So this is what you meant. She certainly is…. interesting," Weiss said to Yang in a hushed whisper while giving her a rolling applause with her eyes. "Well whoever it was Penny, they aren't the person who has to explain why my sister, of all people, is late."

The looming shadow of irony fell upon everyone but Weiss as Winter casually walked behind her sister and cleared her throat. "Would you have preferred I left the little girl to the wolves sister dearest?"

Weiss swivelled around on her heels, a nervous smile displaying as she looked toward her sister. "Well how about that everyone, I called for her and now she's here, funny that right?" The awkward silence permeating amongst her friends counting for even less than incompetent back up, "... I guess not."

"Weiss, I will deal with you later. Is this everyone Ms. Xiao Long? Or will some other person I don't know be cropping out of the woodworks?" Winter asked, gesturing with her heads towards Penny.

"Erm, no, this is everyone Ms. Schnee." Yang addressed as formally as possible. "And I've already briefly described the situation to them via message. So we can head out A$AP."

Winter, looking really fidgety, piped up "But we can't go yet. We haven't taken stock of the party. I don't know what everyone is about or-"

"To be concise, she gets like this when she doesn't know things, she wants to get to know everyone so she knows how to rely on you all," Weiss interrupted in an attempt to save the group from Winter's ramblings, "Especially the element she doesn't know. And I do mean you Penny."

"Oh, don't worry ma'am," Penny saluted, "I am combat ready!"

"Uhm, you're gonna need to be more descriptive Pen," Ruby stated, nudging her in the arm. "Show them your weapons."

"Oh yes, right!" Penny opened her menu, selecting an item from it as two bags appeared on her sides. She dug in the pouches and tossed 4 blades in the air above her, before unsheathing two last ones as she twirled them around in her fingers. The ginger woman placed the two swords in her index-middle finger creases on both hands, snatching the rest of them in the remaining finger creases just as they came close to the ground. When the act was done she held six shiny black swords, 3 per finger crease.

Weiss and Winter could hardly do naught but blink after seeing that display. After collecting themselves Winter decided that maybe she should just trust her sister's friends this one time. Avoid heart attacks in the future and all. Not much was left to do except to venture forth then

"So am I qualified," Penny asked, sheathing her multiple swords in her bags. "Can I come along?"

"Penny, my sister is actively edging away from you as we speak. If you can scare Winter you are more than cleared for operation." Weiss piped up in response to Penny's question.

"She scared Winter?" Yang asked, watching the older Schnee waltz away in shock. The woman dealt with businessmen and women twice her age for crying out loud. Quickly realizing the woman in topic wasn't slowing down at any rate, the blonde motioned to follow her as she started to jog over to Winter. The rest of the pack acknowledged the motion as Weiss followed behind her, and Ruby and Penny soon thereafter holding each other's hand.

* * *

Soon they had arrived at the forest's edge, a sense of anticipation filling them as they prepared. It had been agreed that Winter and Yang would be the vanguard with Penny at the center while Ruby and Weiss took up the flanks. Items were stocked, weapons maintained, and battle plans gone over extensively. Winter turned towards the whole group and looked them over, proud of how ready they looked.

"Shall we?" she asked the group, to which Weiss responded with an eyeroll.

"Ready!" The team shouted in unison, exemption of Weiss, as they all stepped forth into the treeline, ready for anything that came at them.

 _To Be Continued…_

* * *

 **[Topaz] Wow my partner, really? You literally put to be continued?**

 **(DStone) You know me, always leaving on a cliffhanger ;p**

 **[Topaz] *sigh* well I guess we should answer reviews then.**

 **(DStone) May I do the honour?**

 **[Topaz] Go for it.**

 **(DStone) ;) aight here goes:**

 _ **Striker Sigma:**_ **Eh.. Kirito's kinda in it, as is the rest of the canon characters. But we're both focusing solely on RWBY and their canon in the story for now. We have plans to put them in maybe side plots that don't follow their respective series, but that's for another day.**

 **[Topaz] Kirito Harem is a definite no. sorry bro.**

 _ **Ashley:**_ **[Topaz] Im gonna handle this one, even I feel chapter two was a bit of a let down and I wrote it. It could have been a lot more but I just wasn't in the writing mindset I guess. I hope this is a satisfactory chapter to make up for that =)**

 _ **DownTownAlpha:**_ **Eh.. Like I said, We're not completely sure. Cuz there's even elderly folks playing the game (for some odd reason…). Topaz and I will have to discuss it a little more, but as for the ship (Winter x Qrow, I don't know the name of the fucking thing- [Night's Watch ;)] (...oh)), possibly. Idk [I definitely ship it], It's not exactly a ship we'd follow in the story. Topaz's down for it, but I'm focusing more on the main characters and I don't think Winter will be in every chapter or even every side plot tbh. We'll keep an open mind though.**

 _ **Madam Scarlet Heart:**_ **I guess I'm the one to kinda blame for that, I kinda pushed Topaz too quickly for the chapter (sorry bro)[It's cool I was slacking]. Maybe later we'll discuss a fix or something on it, we'll both look more thoroughly into it, make it longer, etc. but I personally like it. So I'll leave it to Topaz to make the call.**

 **[Topaz] One last announcement here just in case some of you people read my story** _ **Wishes from Beyond Space and Time**_ **, if I don't suddenly become extremely busy in comparison to how I am now that should be starting back up (Yay XD). I would be happy to see you all there and bleed your opinions on it.**

 **(DStone) Just one more thing. I'll continue the next segment to the story arc soon, I got the special Halloween day chapter finished and will just be taking a small breather to kinda relax a bit (plus, I just got Witcher 3 so yeah, totally playing that man). As for this story, we will probably do the next installment after TWR, and we'll discuss methods of writing too, cuz tbh, this took a lot longer than I expected (No offense Topaz)[Yeah yeah yeah]**

 **[Topaz] Now if there isn't anything else this will be the two of us signing off, See ya'll sometime before christmas**

 **(DStone) Yeah man, stay tuned. And see ya later.**

 **Pce.**


	4. End of the Beginning

**Heyo! Welcome back to BOA. and my very first chapter of the year! I hope y'all had a good holiday break. I'm back into the old grind of things again, and will be starting the next chapter to TWR soon. But enough about that, let's get into some of the reviews.**

 _ **Dracohalo117:**_ **Thank you, my dood. I'm glad you like it**

 _ **Ashley:**_ **First off, ouch. Like damn, that's awful. Second, as for ships and stuff. Like Topaz and I stated, we haven't really decided what the ships are gonna be like in the story. This goes for both Whiterose/bumblee. Are we gonna kill off a main character… well…. You'll just have to read on.**

 _ **1Fanfanatick**_ **: sshh.. Don't ruin the plo- I mean, maaaybe… Penny does, maybe she doesn't… no spoilers. The beginning kinda explains how these two wound up together too, in case you were wondering.**

 **Alright. Also, one more thing. Topaz's computer's been kinda fucking up on him lately, so I've been kinda taking control for now, so you probably won't see an A/N from him until later when he gets back to me. But without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

 _Nov, 6. 11 a.m. At the game store_

"Ruby? Is that you?"

Ruby turned around at the sound of her name called, finding none other than Penny in the line to the cash register. The redhead's eyes widened in shock as the ginger walked over to her, giving the girl a hug along with a quick kiss.

"P-Penny! Not with everyone around!" Ruby scolded softly, a hint of embarrassment evident on her dusted pink cheeks.

"Oh, sorry Ruby." Penny apologized, looking down in guilt.

"What're you doing here? I thought you said you had some robotics club thing to attend to?" Ruby asked, skipping to the next subject.

"Oh! I asked my tech teacher if it'd be alright if I could miss it to get Sword Art Online! See, he's a really big game nerd like you, so the minute I told him about SAO he instantly agreed," Penny explained, "What about you? I-I mean. I don't mean to bring this up, but yesterday was the day of, uhm. The accident. I thought you'd have lost your spot in line.."

"What? Oh that. Well, I came prepared. My sister's here as well to get the game too, so we took turns going over to the graveyard to grieve." Ruby answered, pointing behind her with her thumb to show the blonde awaiting in line as said blonde turned around upon hearing herself brought up.

"Yo Rubes, we're almost there," Yang spoke, looking over in the ginger's direction. "Who's this Ruby? I don't think I remember seeing you before."

"Yang, this is Penny," Ruby introduced, grabbing the girl's hand as she wrapped herself around it, "my girlfriend, we met at the tech club at school. Penny, this is Yang, my older sister."

"Girlfriend, eh?" Yang quipped, inspecting the other redheaded girl before her like she was fine art.

"Yaaaang!" Ruby whined as a tinge of red stained her pale face.

The brute simply laughed as she patted the younger siblings head. "It's okay Ruby, I'm only screwing with you. I'm not gonna be a dick to you right in front of your girlfriend," She spoke, extending out her hand to the ginger soon after. "It's a pleasure to meet you Penny."

"Salutations!" Penny greeted sporadically, jumping up as she squeezed the older woman.

"Woah! Jesus, for someone so thin, you're fucking packed!" Yang said, letting out a few wheezes from the amount of force in the surprise hug as she smiled. "I gotta admit, I'm impressed!"

"O-oh! I'm sorry, ms. Rose. I just acted off of instinct." Penny apologized. Doing a bow to emphasize.

"It's alright Penny, just a little unexpected," Yang leveled. "And by the way, my last name's actually Xiao Long. Ruby's the only Rose in our family, both literally and metaphorically."

"It's a long story." Ruby interjected.

"Oh, okay," Penny said. "I think I understand a bit."

"So you're getting SAO too I see." Yang changed topic.

"Affirmative, I'm here with my father," Penny replied, pointing over to an older man with black and white hair, along with a stubble and a bandage above his right eyebrow. He wore a white suit along with a red tie and dark grey vest and only one white glove on his right hand. He stood with his hands behind his back as he looked around the shop. "He's back from the military for a couple months. He got home about a week ago and said he wanted to go shopping with me sometime this week, wherever I wanted to go. So lo-and-behold, here we are."

"OOoohh, I love military guys," Ruby said in glee. "They're soo coool!"

"Oh, Ruby. That reminds me, I want to introduce you to him," Penny said with a smirk on her face as she grabbed her hand. "Come on!"

"Well, I don't know.." The redhead spoke, turning over to her older sister for a sign.

"Go," Yang confirmed, "I'll wait in line. It was nice meeting you Penny."

"It was nice meeting you too! We should totally party up sometime!"

"Oh thank you Yang!" Ruby exclaimed with a smile, turning around as the two walked over to the man.

The blonde turned around as the line moved up again. ' _I hope I'll see Penny again,_

 _She seems like a nice girl._ '

* * *

 _An hour of walking in the forest later, Nov, 24._

The party had split into groups of two while battling the beasts that lurked within the forest: Yang and Weiss were the main party, fighting the tougher monsters with elegance and cunning. Ruby and Penny were in charge of the larger crowds of enemies, fighting groups of 3 to 7 with their AoE sword skills. And Winter was the leader, shooting out commands all while helping out when one of the party's struggled. The small force was doing splendid, using minimal potions and resources, and levelling up rather quickly in the process.

"So what is the quest again?" Yang asked, making Winter sigh as she smacked her forehead.

"Yang, I've explained this to everyone 3 times already. We have to defeat the mid-boss here in order to gain intel on the whereabouts of the floor boss." The older Schnee scolded.

"Riiight," Yang replied smoothly, pointing her fingers at the woman. "Thanks snow queen."

"Guys, there it is."

Winter opened her mouth to speak, but was interjected by her sister's before she could utter a word. The party all looked in the direction the younger Schnee was pointing. Winter gave a smirk as she patted her younger sister on the head. "Good finding, sister," She praised, motioning the group to follow. "Let's go!"

The party entered a large ruin that seemed to never end, looking around the place for clues and/or anything that could be useful.

"So what exactly is this monster?" Yang asked as the group proceeded to venture forth. "I mean, it'll be bigger than the other monsters, certainly, but what're we looking for exactly? A skeleton? Kobalt?"

"Lizard, actually," Winter answered. "One that walks on all fours, and is covered in scale plates for armour."

"Ah, great. So stabbing the thing won't do much." Ruby spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Might as well be equipped with butter knives, our blades will be useless against it."

"That's where you two come in," Winter replied. "Yang relies on blunt force to attack her foes, and you, little rose, have a giant scythe, perfect for delimbing."

"...U-uhmm… Come again?" Yang asked in a confused tone.

"I saw a 2v2 duel once. On the 1st team, one person was equipped with a hammer-looking mace, The other a giant buster sword. After the first opponent was eliminated the two started working on the last one, only they found that their weapons weren't doing enough damage and was risking them too much HP loss. So the two focused on switching techniques instead. The mace-wielder would attack first, dishing out mighty blows all around and weakening both his armour and stamina. The other would focus solely on opening up his weaknesses and creating slashes. Finally, the mace wielder broke the chestplate of the guy, and the sword wielder cleaned up the house with a swift thrust. To summarize, both compensated for each other: While one was focusing on opening his opponent's armour and weakening, the other focused on inflicting wounds and cutting through."

Winter turned around, pointing at the two siblings. "And that's what you're here for. One will break it's defenses, while the other will cut off the limbs. I think you know which role is which."

"Wait, what am I here for?" Penny asked with curiosity.

"Support, cheering, whatever you feel inclined to do," Winter replied. "To be honest, I didn't anticipate another person to be accompanying us today, just the siblings."

"Oh, I see." Penny replied.

"And what about me?" Weiss asked.

"You and I will be support. We'll keep potion's at our disposal, assist in damaging the beast and provide any other sort of backup to assist in taking it down whilst keeping our team intact."

Weiss nodded in compliance as the team continued down through the dungeon.

The group finally came up to the first batch of enemies to eliminate. The party's all got into formation as the older Schnee analyzed them. The monsters were different than those in the forest. They were lizards, but their levels were way higher than expected. The groups, though, ignored the odd difference as they all charged at the enemy's before them. The older Schnee didn't understand why they were so strong, until a small sign atop hers and her party's health bar's came to vision, one she ignored until now as it made her gasp in shock.

They were in a high-risk zone.

"Guy's, wait!" Winter shouted to deaf ears. "These aren't like the other one's!"

The announcement wasn't picked up as the fight continued. Penny slashed at one of the lizardmen, turning around just as another smacked her backwards with a mighty blow, pushing her back to the approaching older Schnee.

"Penny!" Ruby shouted, looking up at the party's health bars to see Penny's in the yellow zone.

"I got her Ruby," Winter shouted back to the redhead. "Just keep me covered!"

"Okay!" Ruby complied, activating her sword skill as she spun vertically in the air and ploughed through the oncoming enemies on Penny's tail.

Winter pulled out a HP potion from her pouch, giving it to Penny as her health increased back to a faint green. She noticed though that it was still declining at a slow rate, looking at her status bar to find both bleeding and paralysis debuffs on her.

"Damn, just hold on," Winter consoled the ginger. "The ailments will end eventually, just hold up until then."

"Is she alright?" Weiss asked her older sibling, to which she nodded hastily.

"She's alright, but she's got a bleeding and paralysis debuff on her." The oldest described.

Weiss held up her hand as she spoke to Yang for a moment, stepping back as the brawler took the lead. She ran up to the kneeling Schnee, handing her an odd looking potion. "Here, this should cure any and all status ailments on her. I only have one though."

"T..thank you." Penny stuttered, laying in Winter's arms. The older sibling took the potion as the younger stepped back into battle, giving it to Penny as the battle continued forth. A series of green lines rose from the ginger, as the stats disappeared from her health bar.

"There, now let's be a little more strategic this time, alright?" Winter suggested, bringing the younger girl back on her feet as the two nodded.

Yang smacked the last of the lizard foes into the air, as Weiss finished with a thrusting movement as the beast was sent backwards, evaporating into pixels. "*phew* That was a lot more exhausting than I thought it'd be." Yang stated, wiping her forehead, though she knew she didn't perspire in the game.

"They did seem a lot tougher than usual." Weiss remarked, giving a slight pant as well.

"That's because they aren't like the other monsters we came across outside of this dungeon," Winter spoke, "Look beside your health gauges, you see the sign beside it?"

"What's this," Ruby squinted. "High-Risk Area. What the heck does that mean?"

"It means this is no longer a walk in the forest," The older Schnee replied. "This will test our true skills and strategies in battle. The enemies here are a lot stronger and better equipped than the ones outside, on the fields, in the forests, even surpassing our local markets in the game."

Winter walked in front of the pathway forward, looking to all her party members. "Which is why we need to be more careful from here on out. We cannot just rush into combat like we did just now. We need to plan, work together as a team, and most importantly, aid one-another.

Now, let's go."

* * *

The party finally stumbled upon the next area. One that would most certainly lead to the mid-boss they were all hunting. They were doing okay, but they weren't doing well. The whole party was all starting to dip down into the yellowish area, with Penny being the worst of them all. To make matters worse they were just rationing the last of their potions they had in their inventory. Winter hadn't expected so much resistance, so many problems, to happen all in one outing. She thought she had prepared for everything, for the worst.

She thought wrong.

"Okay guys," The older Schnee spoke, standing in front of the gate to the next area. "I'm gonna be honest, We aren't doing as hot as I thought we would've. If you guys want to abort, we should do so now before the option is no longer present."

"No," Penny answered first, walking up to Winter. There were a few scratches and scrapes on the ginger girl's body, along with two massive gashes on her hands, emitting a bright crimson red glow. "We've come this far in our journey, it would be rather disappointing to just go home now."

"Penny…"

"I agree," Yang too answered, stopping Winter's sentence. "We can't just turn around with our tails tucked between our asses and return to the safe zone knowing we almost made it, then this would've been all for nothing."

"I'm with Yang," Weiss spoke next. "We all know the dangers, but this is something we all knew could happen even before we came here. We wouldn't be here if we didn't accept that possibility."

Winter turned her gaze to Ruby, whom was looking through her stash that even Winter could see was low as her face showed worry and slight fear. "Ruby, what do you think?"

Ruby's menu closed, as did her eyes as she let out a sigh. Silence prevailed in the dungeon as the redhead weighed the consequences of either answer.

"...Penny's right," She finally spoke, looking back up at the group with determination. "We ventured into this quest knowing it wouldn't be easy. Coming back here the next day or-so will give us the same outcome, it's not like we have all the time in this virtual world to level up. More and more people are dying because they've given up hope, we need to do this now, and show the players that it _is_ possible to beat this game. A beacon of hope."

Ruby walked forth, through the group to Winter where she placed her hand on the Schnee's shoulder. "Lead the way miss, we're all right behind you."

Winter smirked as she gave the redhead a nod. "Alright, let's go!"

The large door creaked open as the group walked inside the next area. It was surprisingly brighter than the rest of the dungeon, even with the room being twice as wide and half as long as the corridor they fought hard to get through. There, at the end of the room sat a large, swamp-green lizard, dressed fully in what looked to be like it's own hardened skin atop i's body. It's back was turned towards the group, allowing them all to slowly creep up on the giant lizard. It was going smoothly, until the monster turned it's head, looking straight at Weiss and Yang as it let out a deafening roar and lunged from it's spot. The group all dispersed as the beast landed in the middle of the arena, half on each side of the monster. A few health bars appeared at the head of the mid-boss monster as well as its name; 'Lariath the Lizard Commander'.

"Here we go guys," Winter said, "One last fight.

Let's do this!"

* * *

 _30 minutes into the fight._

The battle was nearly finished, but not over yet as the party fought to their hardest. They were all out of health and other potions though, and so the group knew it was a cautious last battle. Yang would break the lizard's scale armour as her sister would switch in and slice through with thick gashes. Weiss would pierce through the grounded limb, pinning the limb in place as Penny would dish out the blows that cut the limb off cleanly. It happened less than a dozen times as the part would disintegrate into small digital pieces, leaving the beast exposed as it tried to defend it's torn off body part. But after a few minutes the limb would regrow, as would its armour, and the group would have to repeat the same process. Every now and again, the beast would still attack with it's badly injured limb, making Winter jump in to protect the person about to receive the blow. But the group was making good progress. Soon the beast was nearing the reddish-orange area, as both the monster and players panted in exhaustion.

"*Wheeze* It's almost, *Pant* dead," Weiss stated to the group as they tried to regain their stamina. "ONE MORE TIME!"

The party all let out a war cry as they raised their weapons in the air, charging with every last bit of energy left. The mid-level monster sat still, panting as it watched the players all rush up towards it. Winter took note of that instantly, confused as to why it remained unmoved by the advancement. That was until she recalled a similar moment back during the month when she and a couple party members were scouting for the boss. She remembered a similar situation when the party was defeating another mid-level boss, that same boss killed her party, in one fell swoop, a blink of an eye would be an understatement. It made her freeze up in fear as she knew exactly what it was doing.

The beast was flipping the tables, in one last attempt for survival.

Exactly as Winter had thought in her fear-gripped stance, the beast let out a deafening cry that shook the walls of the room like an earthquake. Suddenly, it's scale armour started to vibrate as it soon began cracking into pieces. Soon the bits shot out in a thousand directions, leaving the skinny, unprotected monster's flesh exposed. It let out another shriek as it's claws started to grow 3 times in size. The group froze in place as they all watched it transform, until Penny rushed past the group with her weapons glowing bright as she sliced through the beast with a sword skill that no one saw yet until now.

The attack didn't go unnoticed. Sure, everyone saw, the monster's health was now at red. but nobody expected what happened next, as the beast unleashed a fury of swipes and slashes, leaving the ginger with a vibrant red glow as it finished up with a low punch to the gut and sent only her body and head flying past the group. Everyone watched in horror as Penny's arms and legs evaporated into little crystals. Ruby turned her head over to the delimbed ginger, looking in terror at the unconscious lifeform that laid in WInter's arms. The older Schnee looked up to the redhead, fear and panic clear in her face as little streams began to make it's way down both girls' faces. The redhead looked down at her scythe, as the droplets fell upon the battle-worn weapon before she tightened her hold on it.

" **YAAAAAHHHHHH!** "

Ruby cried out in fury, as she ran through the group members to the awaiting lizard. Her sword skill kicked on as her blade bent upward, and the angered redhead started to spin as her weapon unleashed a fury of attacks that made the girl look like a giant red drill piercing the exposed lizard monster. The beast wailed as it quivered at the massive blow it received. As the attack ended, the silver eyed warrior stood back on her two feet as her weapon started to glow once again.

" **WILTING ROSE!** " Ruby shouted once again as she rushed past the beast in a flurry of rose petals, leaving a gigantic slash upon the monster. The attack did not end there, though as the young girl rushed past the enemy again, before a flurry of slices and petals danced all around the lizard, forming into another big, red tornado. The little rose appeared above the boss' head. The girl spun vertical to the beast as her weapon bent straight once again and blew right through the monster, all the way down to it's legs as she finished up with a small series of horizontal spinning attacks. She landed right in front of the monster as Ruby did her signature pose, and the beast exploded into blue triangles behind her. The scythe wielder panted as she looked up to the group, finding them all awestruck at the show just presented. The redhead looked beyond the group, coming to vision the other two in the background.

"PENNY!" Ruby screamed, sprinting up to the two as the rest clued in. The redhead crouched down to the unmoving ginger as she gazed on her slowly ending red health bar. Penny had multiple status ailments, all of them in full effect as the girl slowly lost health every second.

"I don't have any potions left." Ruby spoke, tears in her eyes as she watched the girl's health deplete slowly.

"Does anybody have any potions?! We need it A$AP!" Winter shouted amongst the group, whom all looked down at the dying ginger in sorrow.

"I don't have any left," Yang spoke, now too with tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm out too." Weiss answered as well, with a defeated look on her face.

"Damn it! We don't have any teleport crystals either. We can't make it back!" Winter stated in frustration.

"W-well, we got to book it then, w-we'll get to the town and her effects will go away." Ruby instructed, trying her best to pick up her girlfriend. Winter grabbed the young girl's arm, looking into her tear-soaked eyes in sadness.

"We won't make it in time Ruby," Winter said as her crying started to pick up. "I-it's too late.."

"B-but… W-what can we do then?!" Ruby shouted, as her crying too harshened.

"...S..say,.. your goodbyes," Winter answered, as she handed the weak ginger to Ruby before walking over to the group.

Penny let out a couple coughs as she regained consciousness one last time. She looked up to the weeping redhead, giving the girl a smile. "I..it's okay, Ruby," The ginger teen spoke in a weakened tone. "There's no pain. I feel no pain."

"P-P-Penn-y-y…" Ruby sobbed, clutching onto the girl as her last resort of effort. She embraced the delimbed girl as she cried onto the fabric of her shirt.

"Don't cry, it's okay," Penny consoled, kissing the crying girl on the cheek. "I saw what you did to the monster, I am so proud of how strong you've gotten."

"Penny, don't die on me! You'll live.. A-a-and we'll go back to Tolbana.. A-a-a-and..-"

Penny silenced the girl with one last kiss, doing her best while disabled. She finally ended the kiss, giving the girl one last smirk. "Keep smiling Ruby, I know you'll make it out of this game. Promise me you will try."

"..I will," Ruby spoke. "For you."

"Okay," Penny spoke. "Thank you. That puts me at peace."

Ruby gently pressed her forehead with Penny's as the two closed their eyes. She watched the last couple drops of HP deplete. Soon, the bar disappeared as a 'You Are Dead' message showed up atop the ginger's head. The redhead started to panic, but Penny sat still. "Shhh-ssshhh… It's okay," Penny spoke softly.

"Smile.. Ruby…"

The ginger gave her girlfriend one last smirk as she started to glow. Soon her face became fragmented as she broke into a thousand small, digital pieces. The remnants of her body now floated around Ruby as she sat still, as if still holding her. Soon the redhead pulled her arms in as if hugging the once living being in her arms. The motion soon broke as she grasped at her arms tightly,

and reality sunk inside her aching heart.

* * *

 _Log Date: November 24th, 2022. Day 18._

 _Today has been the hardest and worst day of my life,_

 _Today I did a quest that would grant us information on the whereabouts of the floor boss. What I hadn't expected was a strange girl would be coming with my sister's friends on this quest, nor did I expect the dungeon at which it lived would be a high-risk area. High-risk areas were area's built for the stronger players that had grown too strong for the floor, a place for the big Koi in the small pond. It was a place not I, nor my team, was ready for. But my thickheaded arrogance told me to press on and hope that nothing terrible happened. Because of me, I watched as Ruby, my sister's friend's sibling, broke. Not physically, she didn't disintegrate. But she did mentally as she watched her once friend and what I've now found out also her girlfriend, die before her. All because I didn't say no and waited a little longer to level up. It is all my fault that Penny died, and because of it I feel guilty, even more, disgusted. I am a Schnee for fuck sakes, Schnee's are NOT supposed to fucking let the weak fall as the strong march forth in the world. My grandfather didn't just inherit the money to make the family business boom. He built it from the ground up, aided and respected by his peers and the employees. That was something I tried to follow, even in a virtual reality death game. But I failed. And because of that, 5 people are dead because of me._

 _It is all my fault._

 _After we got back to Tolbana, I told Weiss to watch over Ruby and Yang, in an effort to at least keep those two alive after such a tragic day. She and Yang agreed to watch over Ruby 24/7 to ensure she doesn't try to commit suicide. The look in those sad little eyes killed me, they weren't the same silver eyes I saw when we were fighting, they were now dark grey orbs of sorrow. I completed the quest and the information was given to me, along with a pass for everyone in the party for a free room in one of the inn's in Tolbana, a permanent housing for them all. That little bit alleviated the stress and the worry, because I knew at least they all had rooms that were close to mine where I could see them all and know how they were doing. I gave them all their passes and they checked into their rooms soon after. We were able to even sell a couple of the rooms, because we lost one in our party, and Yang decided to bunk up with her younger sibling. I gave Yang majority of the earnings, and the reward from the quest. And then I went into my new room, though I didn't feel privileged to have one after all that has happened._

 _Tomorrow I'll share the whereabouts of the boss to a player I know who's in-town for a meeting. They're forming what they are calling the 'assault team' to kill the floor boss, but I won't be going to the meeting. They will most likely get into groups, and I don't think I can bear to after watching party members die because of me. I don't want to give up though, so I will continue to grow in every way I can. I only hope that I will be able to lead again. While I have screwed up so much, I have also learned. Valuable virtual-life experience for those willing to make guilds and even parties with one another. It is the least I can do after what has happened, to try and prevent what has happened is crucial now to survive this death game._

 _After sharing my newfound knowledge I will go and talk with some other beta testers, most likely kick their asses soon after for telling me to go on that quest in the first place without warning me of the dangers. I won't be a beta tester anymore, I won't stand to be named a beta after all they've done to the others._

 _I will be a regular player, like everyone else._

 _~Winter Schnee~_

* * *

 **Heyo, just one last thing. Just wanted to say sorry. I had an evil idea to kill off Penny, but I didn't think it'd be that dark man. But anywho, Stay tuned, pce.**


	5. From Shadows

**Heyo! Welcome to another chapter of BOA. This one took awhile, but it's finally done. A lot of you readers have been wondering who else will we bring in, and I wanted to make a chapter solely on one person I was sure to bring in: Blake. I didn't know what to do at first, but then I got inspiration from Topaz and his work on the previous chapters and such, and so long-story-short, here it is! Now, before you get into the story, there's a few things I need to explain. It'll give the readers a basic understanding:**

 **The White Fang are indeed in the story arc, it's not as big as LC (Laughing Coffin), but it's similar. Blake doesn't have the bow or the cat ears in this story until she escapes at the end. That way her appearance is somewhat changed once she leaves. Because she is known around the WF guild, the players know her appearance. As a sort of deterrence for any known eyes, it is to throw off her complexion and features. And lastly, her blade. This one kinda pushed the boundaries for the story, and so to compensate I'll explain briefly: Blake's cleaver/katana/kusarigama blade is one of the DLC weapons only 100 people were able to get. Because of its hybrid usefulness, it is broken down by it's category. Meaning she can switch from cleaver sword skills, to katana ones, to dagger skills, depending on what mode she switches into. She's allowed to use both the cleaver and the katana together, but she cannot use any dual sword skills like Kirito can (a.k.a, jesus-kun). The cleaver becomes only a sidearm until she equips it again. But anyway, enough explaining, and enjoy.** _ **  
**_

* * *

S _outhern End Floor 2. Forest of Forever Fall. Dec. 01 2022_

I watched as the leaves fluttered around me, taking in the calm sound as I awaited further orders. Today felt different, though i knew today would change paths for the better. I wouldn't be affiliated with my guild anymore. Today was the day I severed all ties, and became anew.

" _Blake,_ "

A low, monotonous voice called out from beside me. I turned my head to see my partner, the guild leader. His gamer tag read ' _Taurus_ ' above his head, though I knew his real name was Adam. He had spiky red hair, black track jacket, track pants, and shoes. All of which with red on the inside. To tie it all in, he bore a mask upon his face that resembled something of a mythical beast I had once read in a greek mythology textbook in history.

"It's time."

"Okay…" I answered, getting up from my seat on a large rock shortly after.

I couldn't help but watch my friend beside me as we sprinted to the cliffside. This was like every other raid we did: Ambush the guild, party or group, while Adam killed the other players, I took the loot. Usually it was with most to all of our guild, But this raid was different. The guild was a lot weaker than average guilds. Their highest ranked, the leader, just achieved level 20, and so they were easy targets for a level 30 and 35. Though this quest granted them at least level 25 guardian beasts and even a mid-level boss, which meant whatever they were transporting was important.

Finally, the edge of the cliffside became visible as we both screeched to a halt, walking up to the side as a large convoy of interconnected carriages all being hauled by large oxes and buffalo passed through.

' _Geez. This must be precious, they have their own convoy to haul it over. And all the players have to do is ride inside it at the front._ '

Adam was the first to act, jumping off the cliff with me behind him. We slid down the side of the cliff as the red haired man jumped off the cliffside.

' _Idiot, he jumped off too early!_ '

Repeating his actions, I jumped off the side of the rapidly depleting edge of the cliff as I watched Adam land on one of the metal cabooses, his sword piercing the roof as he skidded to a stop. I landed not too far from his LZ as we both continued over the carts to the main location.

We stopped at the last caboose before the open car ahead as Adam sliced the hatch lock and opened it, jumping in first. I jumped down shortly after as I landed beside the black and red clad man, instantly noticing the red sensory lasers as I looked over to Adam.

"Looks like we'll be doing the the hard way." Adam commented as several spawning Taurus Ironguards appeared around us.

"Don't be so dramatic." I replied moments after, gripping the hilt of my blade as the monsters started to surround us.

One of the monsters spawned two blades into his hands as his beady red eyes targeted us. "INTRUDER, IDENTIFY YOURSELF." It spoke in a robotic sounding tone. Adam turned to the sound as he relaxed his hold on his weapon. In the blink of an eye, he threw his sword at the taurus guard, appearing near his weapon as he spun over the grunt. With one fell slice, the monster was cut diagonally in two as it disappeared into pixels, and Adam finally sheathed his sword.

Almost in sync, the other taurus grunts started spawning their weapons in as they charged Adam and I. I turned my head to the side as two monsters were starting to get close. One quick look was all I needed. In a flash, I appeared behind the approaching guards as they started to crumble to little blue pixels. I ran up to Adam, whom spotted me in the corner of his eye as

I slid under the man. The former spun around in an AoE 180 attack and killed a couple following monsters behind me, I slicing one guard behind the man as he threw a couple knives with his left hand and finishing with another AoE sword skill attack.

I sliced the beast once more, kicking it back as Adam killed it and a few other approaching with his 360 battle continued on as I fought through the enemies, with Adam right behind me as we worked together to fight through them all. Our fight reminded me of dancing, how he'd sync with me and vice versa as we worked together. ' _The dance of death._ '

I noticed one of the enemies from afar had a bow with multiple arrows ready to fire. The arrows started to glow as it shot the massive array of arrows at us. Adam easily saw the attack and started deflecting them left and right, before destroying one last shot and sheathing his sword again. I rushed past him afterwards, blocking the oncoming arrows as I cleaved the bow wielding beast in half, using my ability to jump in the air almost immediately afterwards as I cut down another monster vertically. I flipped my weapon around, now holding it in a reverse grip as I hit the next monster in the shins. Switching the cleaver blade to my katana, I took out another one easily with a sword skill and landed in a crouching position. I looked up as I rushed forward. Using my sword and and the cleaver-like scabbard, I sliced and delimbed the monsters one-by-one before finishing it off with a spinning sword skill. I smacked the last monster up in the air using another skill as I cut it apart before using my ability to bounce him up again as Adam finished with a jumping kick out the car door.

We jumped out onto the open cart as several taunus guardians started to rally up ahead of us. Adam turned his gaze to me as we both nodded. "Let's do this!" He announced, rushing forth as I followed not too far behind him and jumped up in the air.

With a strong, yet swift sword skill, the red haired man smacked a couple enemies up in the air as I rebounded with a few attacks, sending them back down his way as he finished the skill with a spinning attack and sheathing his sword again. As I landed, I noticed the guards start to surround us, I switched my weapon to a kama blade as I threw it at a guard. The opponent saw the attack easily, ducking just as it flew over it's head. Thankfully, I had found a way to cheat the attack system as I tied a black ribbon to the hilt of the blade, pulling it back as it shot the enemy up with ease and sliced through a few others approaching Adam and I. A purple glow emitted from the kusarigama blade as I activated my favourite skill, The iaido wielder beside me kicking the airborne grunt as I spun around and knocked a few of them down. I jumped in the air, doing a backflip and a corkscrew as I finally unleashed the attack, my blade flew a hundred different directions at once, decimating several taurus knights. The blade landed into the chest of the last enemy in front of me as Adam sliced it's torso clean off, I finishing with an easy jerk of my ribbon as the weapon was returned back into my grasp.

I switched my kusarigama back to my cleaver as Adam rushed forth to the next group of enemies. His sword started to glow from inside his scabbard as he unsheathed his sword, slicing and dicing his way through the enemy guardians. With another sword skill, he sliced past the last of the bulls in front of him as the monsters all exploded into digital pieces, re-sheathing his sword once again. I followed up with a simple slash using the cleaver blade, cutting off the grunt's head as I hopped over another attacking grunt behind it. Unsheathing my switch-blade, I slashed the attacker downwards, following up with a slice with the cleaver-part of the blade as I finished it off with an upwards strike.

Adam moved ahead of me whilst my fight ensued, spinning around as he slashed downwards at the taurus knights onwards. I followed right behind him, switching my blade back into it's kusarigama mode as I threw it at one of the guards beside him. In sync, I activated a skill as the blade spun around a few times in a circle and Adam hit the enemy beside mine with another one of his knives, doing a spinning slash attack before hitting it with one last throwing knife. With a quick sheath, he hit the monsters up in the air with the same strong, blunt sword skill attack as before. I smacked an approaching enemy in the air as well, as the red-and-black clad man sliced the falling opponents with a series of rapid-fast attacks. Using my teleport ability, I shot up toward the still-airborne guardians as I kicked the last living monster down to Adam. He, in-turn, flipped his sword around in a reverse grip as he activated a sword skill and hit the oncoming guard with it. The grunt exploded before evaporating, as the red haired man flipped his scabbard back again and sheathed his sword.

We walked inside another cargo cart, finding the place finally free from monsters as we walked over to one of the crates nearby. Adam opened it up, finding exactly what we had been looking for. "Perfect. Move up to the next car," He spoke, closing the crate as he turned to me. "I'll set the charges."

"What about the players?" I spoke with concern etched in my tone. I knew that killing other players was cruel, unfair and above all else, cold-hearted. But killing them without a cause was even worse.

"What about them?" Adam simply stated, as if his action was just. And that's when I knew I had to ditch him now, and disappear from him and the guild completely. When all doubts were finally settled.

' _Your hopes have become my burden,_

 _I will find my own liberation…'_

* * *

 _Nov. 20th in the night. 11 days before the raid._

I sat at one of the benches in Tolbana. Though there was a lot of people, both players and NPC's alike loitering around the plaza, I zoned it all out as I focused on one particular person alone. The cloaked woman shifted around in the crowd behind me, sitting against the backrest of the bench I was at as she crossed her arms.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry, last minute info cramming. I got what you're looking for though."

"Let me see." I spoke in a stern voice. The hooded person behind me walked around the bench, sitting down beside me as she pulled up her menu and took out a key.

"This key belongs to the dungeon gate I found a couple days back just southwest of here. I found out that the thing you are looking for is there."

"What's this thing called, what does it look like?" I asked, taking the key from her as the heading 'Dungeon of the Guilded Warrior Key.' displayed in my inventory.

"It's a small, white bell with a floural-like design on it. It's called the bell of Myrendia. Once it's used, your status will completely reset, you will go off the grid, untraceable by your guild members and friends forever, You will be just a regular player. And this won't affect your player status indicator whatsoever."

"What's the catch?"

"It only resets your digital self from any and all leads, friends, party members, etcetera. But it doesn't reset your physical self. If you plan on disappearing, you might want to consider avoiding anyone or anything that caused you to have to disappear," Argo replied. "But aside from that, nothing. Everything about you remains intact, other than your affiliations."

"Alright, thank you." I replied, getting up as I stored the key inside my pouch and left.

"Wait."

I paused for a moment, turning around with my guild's mask in my clutch. "Yes?" I responded.

"A couple more things I just remembered. It can only be used once, and your stats cannot be restored after using it," Argo spoke. "Also, once activated, it will teleport you back to the Town of Beginnings."

I gave a simple nod, putting my guilds mask on as I walked through the crowd of busy people, completely blending into my surroundings as I lost sight of the info broker.

It took me an hour to get to the dungeon, but I finally found it as I took the key out of my pocket, noticing a few of my guild members there as well. One of the members turned his gaze to me as he let out a sound of confusion.

"Blake? Did the leader send you as well?" He asked, to which I shook my head.

"I'm here on my own will." I replied, walking past him.

"It's no use Blake, we need to find a key to get into the dungeon." Another player said. I walked past him and over to the door, holding out the key as I placed it inside the hole and turned it. With a click, the doors opened, and I stepped aside for the guild members to see.

"Oh, one step ahead of us," The scrawny member of the group spoke. "I see why the leader made you his apprentice."

I motioned the players to enter, to which they complied with ease. And as we continued into the dungeon, I understood what I had to do in order to gain my freedom.

Flash forward half an hour later, we entered a moderate sized room, where the bell sat on it's pedestal up on a moderate flight of stairs. I walked forward as the small party covered me, searching for any traps to find only 1 as I saw it hang above the item on the ceiling. I motioned the others to come closer, and as they walked up the stairs I picked up the bell.

An alarm sounded throughout the room, the grunts all looking around in worry as the party leader looked up to me. "What the fuck Blake?! I thought you disarmed it?!" He shouted. I simply shook my head once.

"No, I was just waiting for the opportune moment."

With that, a log with spikes sticking all around it dropped from the roof. I hopped off the platform, landing beside it as the deathtrap crashed into the pedestal and began tumbling down the stairs at a fast pace. The White Fang members had no chance of escape as it ploughed each member, one-by-one, until all 3 were laying at the bottom, with little to no health left and paralysis buffs on them.

"B-Blake.. Help, I can't feel my legs," one of the downed players spoke in a weak tone. I unsheathed my weapon to it's katana blade as I flipped it into a reverse grip. The member saw this as he started to squirm. "W-wait, Blake, Blake. What're you doing?!"

"I'm sorry." I simply stated, piercing my blade inside his chest at his heart. I watched as his bar depleted completely, breaking into a hundred tiny digital pieces.

"Wait, don't do this Blake, Adam will find out and he will have your head!" The next grunt shouted, to which I shook my head.

"He can't find out if there are no witnesses." I spoke with an emotionless tone, cutting through the second as he too died.

"Blake, hold on. Let's work this out," The last party member pleaded, trying his best to stand on all fours as he looked up to me. "Please, you and I, we can leave here together. I won't tell the leader about this, a-a-and you can go wherever you want, just spare me please!"

I crouched down, removing my mask as he inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry, but there is no room for altercations. For my escape plan to work, there has to be no chances of exploitations."

With that, I stood up again, raising my blade over my opposite shoulder. "I'm sorry brother."

A quick cut was all it took as his head sliced right off. I watched as his mask dropped on the floor, looking at me with a frightened look. _"Why.."_

He froze up as his avatar evaporated. I looked down in guilt and shame as I knew it had to be done.

After all, a warrior does whatever necessary in order to achieve peace.

* * *

 _Present Time._

I heard the sound of a spawn portal as both Adam and I looked over to the entrance. There, a giant red and black spider-like paladin dropped down from the ceiling of the car, small cannons on it's shoulders and two more larger one's for arms as it pointed its main weapons at us. Its multiple health bars displayed as the name 'Paladin Spider-Droid' appeared before us.

"Adam!" I spoke in a worried tone, turning my gaze to him.

Suddenly, the spider's cannon-arms started glowing, as did its secondary weapons as it started firing multiple rounds at Adam. The red clad man dodged the oncoming attacks as he did a roll to the side, I subbing in his place as I withstood the barrage of rounds. I watched my health bar slowly go down as I rushed the mid-level boss, going for a jumping strike as my sword skill activated. To no avail, the boss simply butted it's head at me, denying the attack as I fell to the ground.

Adam jumped into play as he attacked with a series of swift slashes, landing on the floor as the paladin kicked the black clothed man away and fired a cannon at him. The man instantly recovered as he evaded the cannons with a series of rolls. I was struggling to regain my focus as I watched the leg that shot Adam back line up to stomp me. Just as it was about to crush me, Adam jumped in front of the opponent as he scooped me up and out of the vicinity. He put me down at a safe distance away from it as it turned to him.

"We need to get out of here." I spoke as the red haired man gripped his hilt.

Suddenly, the spider droid's multiple weapons started to glow as it activated its special attack. I got behind Adam as he activated his defensive sword skill, awaiting the moment as the cannon unleashed it's massive attack. Adam blocked most of the attack with his sword, but the sheer tenacity of the attack blew us out of the car and tumbling onto the open bed.

Adam and I slid to a stop on the car as the former looked over to the approaching boss, noticing his health was down to half before shifting his gaze to me. "Buy me some time!" He shouted as I looked at him with worry.

"Are you sure?" I asked, an eerie feeling in the back of my mind told me he knew I was behind the killing of the three guild members. If I knew anything from being with him, it was that killing loyal guild members was worse than stealing from him, and I had done both. A chilling thought crept in my mind as I hoped he wouldn't do the same thing I had done to those three.

"DO IT!" He shouted. Without second hesitation, I ran forth at the enemy as Adam began charging his special skill.

The spider-droid fired a few rounds at me as I dodged and evaded his attacks, only needing to use my shadow ability once or twice. I switched to my kusarigama as I bolted straight through the boss, appearing just above him as I used a skill to yank the weapon out of the monster. I activated another skill as I slashed the enemy several times in a spinning attack, planting it in it's leg as I pulled it back into my grasp with a quick switch of the blade. My katana started to glow as I knocked one of the spider's legs up, using my ability to bolt to the next leg as the droid fired a cannon at me. I reappeared at it's face as I quickly slashed it again. The boss aimed it's side cannon at me, firing instantly as I evaded it with a shadow clone. With a quick glow of my sword, I thrusted it in the monster's neck, noticing Adam's ability was fully charged as I pushed off of the paladin. I did a few backflips back to Adam as the droid started charging up another special shot.

"MOVE!" Adam shouted as I bolted away from the scene. The boss finally fired the large attack, though the red haired man remained still as he awaited contact. As it was about to hit the chokuto wielder, he unsheathed a part of his sword, absorbing the attack without a single falter. The black and red man sheathed his sword right as the attack finished, a red glow emitting throughout his body as he laughed sinisterly. In a final attempt, the paladin lunged at the red haired man. As it reached just a few feet away from Adam, he finally unveiled his special attack.

' _Moonslice'_

With a horizontal slash, Adam blew not only the spider paladin, but everything around him to shreds. The boss evaporated to pixels as the vicinity turned to red and black. He finally ended the attack as the environment returned to normal, turning around as he ran towards the end of the car. I stood on the conjoined car in front of his, facing him as he stopped. He held his hand out, though I remained still as I pulled out the bell from my pocket.

"Wait, that bell," Adam spoke in a dumbfounded tone as he realized. "The guild members…"

"Goodbye." I spoke, taking out my cleaver as I cut the link to the two cars. I watched as Adam's car started to slow down, and when I was a good enough distance away, I finally rung the bell. It made one moderate pitched tone as the area around me started to glow. Suddenly, I faded away, looming into a black void as I awaited my destination.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, finding everything calm and quiet with the exception of a small fountain in the distance. I looked around, finding myself in the town square on the first floor, I quickly checked my status, finding my guild information gone, along with my affiliates in said guild. Breathing a sigh of relief. I looked up at the dusk sky,

I took out my mask, holding it in my hands as I stared at the simple design one last time. Finally, I dropped it on the floor, giving it a good stomp with my heel as the mask broke, and disappearing afterwards. I started my walk as I scrolled through my inventory, pulling out a black headband with cat-like ears atop it as I put it on.

" _I'm free."_

* * *

 _A/N  
Hello , This is Topaz talking. For those of you who have been concerned with my sudden seeming disappearance I can give you an explanation._

For the first time since ever I have a job. Time to do writing has vanished almost entirely and my inspiration for it is just outside of my reach. I do plan on writing at least part of the next chapter however so don't worry about that.

If you have any questions you can do a search for me and give a PM or just put it in a review and DStone will get the answer from me to you.

As always have a good day  
Read, Review, and live life well.


	6. When Predator Becomes Prey (Part I)

**Hey guys, welcome back to another installment. We've both been busy as hell, though don't worry, we're on top of it! Just wanna let you guys know a few things. Firstly, we've finally come to terms with the ships and directions that we're gonna take. Not gonna spoil it, but there's gonna be some polygamy goin on (Wink wink*), secondly, we've also revised our work collaboration, not to make anyone worry though, I think this new agreement works great for both of us now. Lastly, Topaz and I will be working together on the next chapter for BOA, so it might take some time before it is finally released. Just letting y'all know what's up. So without further ado, enjoy, and stay tuned for the next.**

* * *

 _Floor 3, Forest of Wavering Mists, Southern Area. December 14th, 2022. thirteen days after the raid._

The atmosphere was instilled in a calm quietness, nothing but the sound of birds chirping in the trees and the animals talking in their natural voices. It was almost impossible to think that any player was still in a game with all the natural sounds of the wild. It was off-putting how realistic it seemed.

Amidst the calls of the wild that rung throughout the thick woods sat a lone, black haired woman high above in the trees, reading a book. She had on a simple black face mask that reached just over her nose donning the symbol of a black flame, and black cat ears atop her head to tie it all in.

The woman flipped her page as she suddenly sensed a presence underneath on the ground far below her. She tried to focus on the person below, trying to depict whether or not it was a threat, but the thick fog obscured everything. The black haired girl closed her book and pocketed it before getting up and jumping down to a lower branch, repeating the process until reaching a safe enough distance to see the ground without appearing to anyone. It wasn't hard to spot the light-brown caped figure walking through the forest, wielding a big butcher's knife as she hastily looked around. With a sigh of relief, the black haired shinobi leapt off the branch all the way to the ground, landing with a noise like a small item dropping on the ground as she sprawled her one leg out to soften the sound. The caped woman jumped as she got into a fighting stance, though quickly noticing whom the person was as she sighed.

"Jeez Blake, did you have to scare me like that?" Argo protested as she sheathed her weapon. Blake stood up as she walked toward the hooded info broker.

"Sorry," Blake apologized. "Just dropped in subtlely, didn't think it was that scary."

"How'd you know it was me anyway? Were you just waiting for the right moment for me to pop in or something?"

Blake simply pointed to her headband with the cat ears. "The accessory gives me a greatly increased detection, balance and accuracy boost," The woman stated. "I could hear you from the top of this 20 foot tree here."

"Wow, you sure know how to utilize equipment to it's fullest," Argo spoke, checking out the black haired woman from head to toe. "And look good in it at the same time."

The cat girl laughed. "Alright, back to business. You know what I'm looking for here, right?"

"Yep, there's-"

Before Argo could speak, the ears on Blake's head twitched as the woman wearing it looked over her shoulder, holding her finger to Argo. In a quick fashion, The black cat jumped out of the way as a throwing knife landed in the ground where Blake previously stood. The duo looked up into the air, but the thick fog made it impossible to spot anything from ten feet of them. "Run Argo!" Blake shouted as she pulled the girl-in-question along with her.

Though the info broker couldn't see the attackers, Blake could detect the small party as they leapt from branch to branch. Turning to her affiliate, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a light blue, rectangular crystal and handed it to her. "Here, It's my last crystal. Teleport yourself back to the nearest village, I'll deal with them!"

"What about you?! I can't just leave you here!" the hooded woman exclaimed.

"Just do it! I'll rendezvous with you in Zumfut!" The black haired shouted. Before Argo could argue back, another knife landed in-between the two. Without second thought, she teleported out of the area, leaving just Blake left as the girl skidded to a stop in a clearing.

The air remained quiet as Blake stood still at the clearing. She turned around, though the thick fog made it nearly impossible to see much, her heightened senses alerted her of the players' locations. The attackers weren't the best in stealth, Blake could easily hear their feet landing from every branch to where she stood as she focused on the sounds. Another knife flew at her, though going through her body as a mimicked cat woman disappeared.

"Huh? A shadow clo-"

With one easy thrust, Blake stabbed one of the players attacking in the back as he fell off the tree branch, landing with a hard thud as his avatar evaporated.

 _'One.'_

"Ziero?! Was that you?"

With a flash, Blake was now standing beside the next soon-to-be victim with her katana to his throat. The man flinched, turning his head slowly to her as his eyes widened. "That speed..."

With an easy slash, the next body went falling to the ground as it started evaporating, hitting the floor in a series of blue pixels. Blake turned her head as a knife lunged into her arm, flinching slightly, though not letting out any loud noises as she sheathed her weapon. She jumped to a couple branches around her as she pressed herself against a tree and looked around the corner for her next opponent. Suddenly, the tree she was hiding behind sliced just above her head, cutting it clean off as it evaporated. Blake flinched as she turned her head to see another player in a similar brown hooded cape. With a lightning-flash attack, he sliced Blake downwards diagonally across her chest, though a shadow clone disappeared as the real Blake smashed the opponent with her cleaver. The man staggered back as both players panted lightly.

"Nice switchblade," The man commented. His low, intimidating voice creeping up Blake's spine. "I never thought I'd be lucky enough to kill a DLC player, I guess dreams really do come true."

"What do you want from me? This obviously isn't a coincidental encounter." Blake returned in an emotionless tone. Instead of a reply, the man simply charged at the cat shinobi as Blake switched into a reverse grip and blocked the attack. The two locked into a power struggle as both fought to keep their stance.

"There's a special rule in my guild, _Laughing Coffin_ ," The man spoke, Blake's eyes widening as her balance faltered. The player saw this and started pressing forward, cowering over the black cat as she held up as best she could. "DLC kills give you extra credit, and I'll use your death to rise up to lieutenant rank."

With that, the LC member pushed Blake down onto the branch, bringing his sword back up and smashing down again. The attack failed as Blake jumped back, though the hooded man continued to press Blake back against the hacked-off tree. He swung his sword in a series of attacks as the black clad evaded and blocked them one-by-one. The cat girl stopped at the base of the tree as the latter swung in a horizontal attack, jumping over it in a backflip as she landed on the slanted, cut-off stump, the player's blade getting stuck halfway into the tree. Blake planted her legs on the attacker's shoulders, pushing off the man and throwing a few shurikens at him as she did a corkscrew to reorient herself. Whilst in the air, she switched to her kusarigama and threw it into the neighbouring tree beside it. Using her momentum, she swung back around and landed behind the man on the branch, retracting her weapon back into her grasp.

The hooded man let out a snort as he grabbed the hilt of his wedged sword, activating a sword skill as it sliced through the digital wood and cut off another block of the tree. He spun his weapon a few times before resting the blade on his shoulder and laughing. The LC guild member turned his head to the side, peering down at the blanket of fog below the two as a devious smirk stretched across his face. With a swift slice, he cut the branch off behind him as both him and Blake started falling to the next branch. Before Blake could land, a series of knives hit her on the side, pushing her away from her original landing as she smacked and smashed her way through trees until she hit the ground hard.

Blake staggered to get back up as another small party of guild members landed on the ground a few feet beside her. The black cat looked to her left, noticing the multiple knives that stuck out of her body as well as the men. She collapsed onto her other side as she watched the guild members slowly walk up to her, later noticing the paralysis symbol above her health bar. ' _Shit_ '

The man Blake fought in the tree landed on the ground ahead of the other guild members, signalling the group to halt. "Thanks boys. Now stand guard, this trophy's mine." He stated as he unsheathed his sword again. The other members watched the man as he slowly sashayed over to his befallen prey, flipping his sword around into a reverse grip. He knelt down as soon as he got close to the fallen cat girl, looking Blake straight in the eyes as a psychotic smile stretched across his lips.

"I can smell the promotion already. All I have to do is bring back your weapon, and he'll give me a feast in my name," The man spoke, licking his lips at the thought of his own banquet as he sighed in sinister bliss. "Oh, just the thought of it makes me thirsty, I can't wait!"

With that, the man stood back up. Blake couldn't stand to watch anymore. She closed her eyes, and listened only to the sound of her breathing, and the slowly calming beating of her heart. The black haired woman closed off everything around her, keeping herself calm in the last moment of her life.

' _I knew it wouldn't take long. I lasted about 2 weeks on my own. I have nothing.. and now, I'll die with the same title._

 _As nothing...'_

* * *

The calm wave flourished throughout Blake as she thought of happier things, awaiting death as she heard the sounds of him backing up. His sword going up into the air as it was about to pierce her heart. Time seemed to slow down a bit in Blake's mind as she continued to listen to her heart beat, and the calm breathing fluctuation that accompanied it. Finally, she took one last deep breath, awaiting the final moment.

Blake listened to the sound of a blade piercing flesh as she slowly let out her breath, though not feeling any pain or a blade in her. She listened as the executioner gasped sharply, his sword landing in the dirt beside her. Finally, she opened her eyes once more as she saw a pin-shaped knife stick out of the man's dominant hand, said man grasping his wounded arm as he looked around in a panic. His gaze was averted behind Blake as he stepped back a couple feet and a pair of footsteps slowly walked over to her. The person stepped over her as he stood in-between the LC member and the black cat. Blake noticed a young man in a black and dark grey leather jacket that draped down to his knees, black, fingerless gloves and boots along with a black scabbard and a uniquely shaped sword holstered on his back, extending past his right shoulder. The man unsheathed his sword, planting it in the ground as he rested his hand on the pommel. The LC members all gasped and stepped back in fear as they looked at the black haired man before them.

"I-it's.. _The Black Swordsman_." One of the guild members stated, grabbing the hilt of his sword, though stopping at that point in fear of a fight with the notorious player.

"It's said he's strong enough to take down mid-level bosses by himself!" Another member exclaimed, shaking slightly.

"I suggest that you surrender. You may not be able to see, but you're surrounded by my party," The black haired man spoke, his voice sounded a bit high for such a shady person, but it didn't seem to throw the other player-killers off. If anything, it made them more petrified as they looked all around the foggy area. "You know the assault squad's leader, don't you?"

"H-he's bluffing! There's no way the leader's-"

Before the player could finish, the sound of rapid-fast sprinting started to rise beside the player in the back. In a blink of an eye, a woman appeared beside the last member behind the group, a series of lightning-fast sword skills lit up the air around him as he was slashed several times. The emerald green glow didn't stop, though as the redheaded woman blew the man away with a strong thrust attack, blowing him through multiple trees before landing several feet away in a pile of dust and debris. The LC members looked behind to the sound of the noise as they all jumped, one even screaming.

"Shit, RETREAT!" The executioner finally commanded as they all frantically jumped into the branches and bolted away.

"Go after them! I've got the girl." The black clothed man told the woman as she nodded and jumped into the tree's as well.

The black clad man pulled his sword out of the ground, sheathing it back in his scabbard as he turned back to Blake. Calmly, he knelt down and started pulling the knives out of her side, picking her up shortly after finishing. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?" He spoke to the black cat, a look of concern evident on his face.

"W..who are you?" Blake asked him after a moment.

"My name's Kirito, what's yours?" The young man returned.

"Blake.. my name's Blake." The cat replied, dozing off slowly. Kirito shook her lightly as he dug in his pocket.

"Don't fall asleep, I need to get you back to your house," He spoke, pulling out a red vial. "Here, this is all I have left, I was heading to the next town to resupply."

"How'd you know.. I was here?"

"My friend and I, the redhead you saw just now, we were going down the path here when we heard a swordfight and snapping branches. We saw a small party of hooded players running by and I decided to follow them into this foggy forest," The black swordsman spoke. "I had an eerie feeling about them, and my dark chill was right. Thank god we got here in time."

Kirito brought his hand to Blake's mouth as the cat girl gave the man a surprised look. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm pulling down your mask so you can drink the potion. It's kinda difficult to when your mouth's covered." He explained, pointing to the cloth cloaking half of her face. With an understanding 'oh', Blake relaxed as the black haired boy removed her face mask, pulling out his last health potion shortly after. With assistance, Blake downed the potion as she watched her health return a good three-quarters, though her paralysis debuff was still active. Kirito noticed the debuff easily, opening his menu as he scrolled through all of his items.

"Hmm.. Sorry Blake, I don't seem to have any paralysis potions in my inventory. If you want, I can bring you to the nearest town. Once we're inside the safe zone, your debuff should go away." Kirito offered, catching Blake off-guard.

"Wait, you wanna.. help, get me to the next town?" Blake asked in a surprised tone. "But.. why? You see my cursor do you not?"

Upon mentioning, the dark haired boy looked up above her head, noticing the darkened orange cursor. His complexion didn't alter, though as he smirked. "You probably had to do what was necessary in order to protect yourself from those player killers, I can understand it was out of instinct to survive."

Blake's eyes seemed to widen a size smaller, dumbfounded by his answer. "If it's not too much to ask of you.. can you take me to Zumfut?"

"Zumfut? That's a pretty long walk.." Kirito responded in a slightly concerned look, earning a dampened complexion by the black haired woman. Noticing this, he returned to his normal face as Blake sighed.

"I'm sorry, I understand it's a pretty farfetched request coming from a complete stranger. Can you at l-"

"I'll take you." The black swordsman interrupted, earning an empathetic look from the limp woman.

"No no, you don't have to. I appreciate you saving me-"

"It's alright, I'm more than okay with taking you to Zumfut." Kirito stated, putting the cat girl's legs down as he hoisted her onto his back.

"There, now let's go."

"Wait, what about your partner, the red haired woman?" Blake asked, remembering the second party member with the rapier.

"She'll see me on the map, we'll rendezvous with her along the way anyway." He replied.

"Are you sure? You don't have to carry me all the way to Zumfut, just take me to the nearest safe zone and I can use the teleport station there."

"You've never played on this map, have you?"

"No, not really. Why?" Blake asked in a worried tone.

"This floor doesn't have a lot of safe zones, let alone towns. Have you ever seen the town layout in Zumfut? It's basically just a giant, hollowed out tree, accompanied by roots and other smaller living things inside. Every other safe zone on this floor is settlement and base camps," Kirito explained. "The only other town on this floor is to the very north near the labyrinth, but there's a strong mid-level boss that's blocking the way. So it's off the list, at least until me and my friend organize a party to take it down, or that small group I heard about takes it down."

"Wait, base camps for what, and what small group?"

"Well. This floor is said to be a part of a major quest that involves a civil war between the light and the dark elves. Their camps are just west of here," The black swordsman spoke, pointing to his right. "And rumour has it, there was a small party of about five that played a very special role in finding the very first floor boss back in November. The leader of the small force apparently chewed out the beta tester's for not giving her all of the information, claiming they were responsible for her friend's death, along with hundreds of others. And now, beta tester's are getting a bad reputation for getting early access to the goods and other prime spots in the game."

Blake's ears piqued in interest about the small group. She had heard of such a group before when she was affiliated in the White Fang. From their reports, the members of the group were DLC users and Beta testers. Mostly in their teens, but their skills and prowess showed they were prodigy's in the game, showing experience from other MMORPG's and skills of a team. Unfortunately. There wasn't any more reports of them since the second floor opened to the players, and so Blake had assumed their group split up after what happened.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Blake asked the black haired man, who looked over his shoulder with a shake of his head.

"Not really. Word has it, the broken group still does small quests and jobs on the lower floors, trying to help those struggling to survive. But it's not in the assault squad's interest where they are. Right now, we're focused on helping in the war on this floor, and getting past the mid-level boss."

Blake nodded as she looked out through the trees, though she wondered just who they were, she knew it wasn't much of a concern to her.

All that was important to her was completing the game.

* * *

Dusk approached pretty quickly as the black swordsman walked down the beaten dirt trail. Blake had fallen asleep during that time, opting to restore her energy and get rid of the fatigue from the day's event. About halfway through, the redhead landed in front of the two, as Kirito gripped his sword in a readying stance. "Relax, it's just me." The redheaded woman spoke as she sheathed her rapier on her belt.

"Oh, Asuna. Sorry, I can't see very well in this dim lighting." Kirito said as he released the hilt of his blade.

"Who's the girl? She one of them?"

"No. This is Blake, she was the victim LC was attacking," Kirito explained, continuing the trek. "I was taking her to Zumfut to get rid of her paralysis."

The black clad boy looked to his partner beside him. "Speaking of LC, did you get them?"

The red haired woman shook her head with a defeated sigh. "I apprehended a couple of them, but the rest teleported out, including the leader of the attack," She told. "I don't understand their motives just to attack someone out of the blue like this. I know they pick victim's by random, but to attack someone who was completely concealed and hard to find. This had to be a planned execution, but why..?"

"Did you see her weapon?" The black clad asked, turning the cat girl's body to the latter. "It's a switchblade, a weapon only obtained through the DLC that was released at the beginning."

"Wait, so that means.."

"She's unique compared to the rest."

 _To Be Continued._


	7. Destiny of A Lone Rose

**Hello everyone! Welcome back FINALLY to another chapter of BOA. This took, a fuck-long ass time to make, I'm sorry. Topaz and I have been really busy. At the time we started this, I was in exams and shit and Topaz was working. And even now, I've been working my ass off for the summer break. So yeah, I apologize for the long ass hiatus and stuff. NO THIS STORY DIDN'T DIE, as my buddy and I have promised it wouldn't. We've just been busy in our lives.**

 **Story Notes: WARNING! Contains attempted suicide, BE FOREWARNED**

* * *

 _Floor 1: Town of Beginnings, Outer Rim. Dec 04, 2022. 8:30 p.m._

The stars littered the sky and illuminated the path as Ruby walked down the stone walkway. The day felt long and dull to the girl, and seemed to be ever since the accident that broke their team apart. The days went by without a second thought, the girl had practically given up, finding solace in those long walks which Yang and Weiss left her alone as to not disturb her. Occasionally they'd accompany her, but for the most part, they let her be as she could handle on her own. Truth be told, Ruby was only truly still there because of her sister. She didn't want to burden her with being an only child, but her willpower was faltering. Her motives drying up and her sadness corroding away at her. She felt useless because they had to help her, it was no choice for Yang, and Weiss only felt obligated to assist due to her sister telling her to while she fought in the front lines.

A slight breeze rolled through the quiet fields as Ruby blocked it with her hand, lowering it as it subsided before continuing the trek down the cobblestone pathway. Soon, she came up to a long, straight stretch of walkway that seemed decent enough in Ruby's mind. Opening her inventory, she removed her hooded cape, dropping it on the ground along with her main weapon as she walked over to the railing. Ruby climbed atop it, holding onto the nearby light post for support as she finally stood. She let out a pained sigh, looking up to the sky as she stared at the luminous crescent moon, joined by the millions of tiny, digital dots that shone ever so brightly in the night sky. Ruby smirked as a single streak fell down her pale avatar's face. Her complexion softened as she looked down at the cloudy abyss below Aincrad.

"This is it," Ruby said softly, taking one last deep breath of air as she closed her eyes.

" _Goodbye._ "

* * *

 _About 10 minutes earlier_

Weiss searched left and right for Yang's younger sister, mentally scolding herself for not keeping a close eye on the girl. She had a tendency to wander frequently, trying to avoid them. ' _Damn it! One task Weiss, and you let her walk away without even noticing!'_ She spoke frustratedly in her mind, searching frantically for the smaller girl. A sudden idea popped in her mind as she remembered one of the key abilities given to players. The heiress opened her menu as she started scrolling through her friends list, coming up to Ruby's name as she pressed the 'track' option on the menu. Suddenly, her footsteps appeared as it followed out of the town. Weiss followed the tracks in a brisk walk as she soon found herself in the outer parts of the map. She soon began to run as she looked all across the fields for the little redhead. Soon, she saw a red figure from afar as the girl scrolled through her inventory.

"There she is, Ruby!" Weiss called out. Her voice seemed to not have reached the girl as she started dropping her cape and weapon on the ground. Weiss watched in confusion as she wondered just what she was doing. ' _That's like her favourite cape, I think she even sleeps with it on, what is she-oh my god!_ '

Ruby got on top of the railing, holding onto the light fixture for balance as she looked up to the night sky. Fear gripped the heiress as it finally sunk in what Ruby was doing. And so, with a sudden jolt, Weiss sprinted to the girl as quick as she could in heels.

"Ruby NO!" She screamed as she finally got close enough to reach the girl. Ruby finally realized her presence as she wrapped her other half around the pole, using it as leverage between her and the white haired girl as the latter grabbed hold of her free hand.

"What are you doing? Do you think for a minute that jumping off this railing is going to solve anything?" Weiss scolded, getting a better hold of the girl as she planted herself in the ground. "If anything, you will cause even more distress! What do you think Yang will think! What will she do if she just found out her little sister just died?!"

"I don't care!" Ruby shouted back as Weiss gave a shocked expression. "I know I'm just an obstacle in yours and Yang's way, you can't deny it. So give me a good reason why I shouldn't jump?!"

"Because we still care! Do you know what would happen to Yang, to _me_ , if you jumped right here and now?! I'd be scarred for life, Yang would fall. And what about Penny's dying wish?"

"Penny's dead because of me! If it wasn't for my stubborn and recklessness, she would be still here!" Ruby shouted back.

"Well that's where you're wrong, it was a prolonged fight and you and Penny weren't the only combatants. We are all just as much to blame for it. And I don't know if you forgot but you promised her that you would get out of this world. And what about your friends and family? What about Taiyang and your uncle Qrow, especially your mom? What would she think if you just gave up? What would they all do if they never got to see you again?"

Ruby's complexion mellowed as she soon began thinking. Her eyes lowered to the ground as an uncertain look now formed on her face, though her intent still lingered. Weiss didn't know what else to do, at this rate it was going to end just like before. Then it hit her, the one thing she wished she had done for her friend so long ago.  
With a sigh. Weiss began, "alright Ruby, I won't stop you," Ruby's expression then darkened a little as she began to turn back towards the edge,

"But I won't let you go alone."

"Wait… w-what…" Ruby muttered, turning as Weiss got on top the ledge and finally stood level with the girl.

"You heard me, you dolt. If you're going to jump, I'm gonna accompany you." Weiss spoke, giving the younger girl a serious face as she nodded.

"But… why?" Ruby questioned in a dumbfounded tone. "Why would you jump too?"

It took a moment for the heiress to respond as she looked down to the ground. She finally took a deep breath as she looked up to the night sky. "I had a friend once, who loved me the same way you loved Penny. The thing is, I didn't know at the time who I liked or what I preferred. I choked, and my best friend misread my reaction. We didn't talk for a whole week, and when I finally came to realize my true feelings, she… she committed suicide."

"Wait, _she_?" Ruby questioned.

"Look, Ruby, there's a lot of finer detail. The message is, I let a friend die because of my silence, I won't stand here and let myself make the same mistake. If seeing yourself as the cause of someone's death is reason enough to end yourself, then I figure my sin is at least as great as yours."

Weiss could see the gears in Ruby's mind turn, slowly coming to a conclusion. Her eyes soon shone fear as tears started to well up in her eyes. "I-I can't…" She wept, clutching onto the pole tightly. "I don't want to, I want to get down."

She slowly crouched down on the railing as she tried to kneel on it. Suddenly, her balance faltered as she slowly fell forward. Weiss' adrenaline-fueled instincts kicked in as she grabbed the girl around the stomach and leapt away from ledge back to the safety of the ground, doing a recovery roll to soften the latter's landing as they finally laid on the cool stone walk. The white haired teen panted lightly as she clutched the redhead firmly, before releasing the girl as she locked eyes with her.

"Are you alright?" Weiss asked softly, awaiting some form of acknowledgement. Ruby looked at her for a moment, a brief moment, before her tears reappeared and she gripped the alabaster teen with a firm might. It came as a shock to the heiress, who hadn't even noticed how close she was until she could feel her crying in the crook of her neck. A fluttering feeling arose in the former's gut, before she returned to reality and hugged the weeping girl back, consoling the girl gently as she whispered calm words and phrases to her.

Knowing she just saved her life.

* * *

The door creaked open as a pair of footsteps walked through the entrance. Though the lighting was dim in the inn, Yang could see clearly from the stairs to the second floor Weiss and Ruby's face, the latter looking rather drained as the former held a half-worried, half-satisfied complexion. The duo looked toward the stairs as they saw Yang waiting at the base, arms crossed as she leaned against the exposed beam. They walked over to the blonde at the stairs as Weiss told Ruby to go get ready for bed, to which the little redhead complied emotionlessly. After the red cloaked girl disappeared upstairs, Weiss pulled Yang back.

"Where did you find her?" Yang asked the white haired woman once they rounded the corner. The alabaster girl sighed as she clutched her arms to pacify herself.

"I found Ruby at the outer fields, about to jump off the ledge," Weiss spoke, earning an explosive reaction from the latter. She told her to quiet down before clearing her throat. "I was walking along the pathway, when I seen Ruby standing on the railing, her things on the ground behind her. I just barely managed to talk her down."

"How did you do that?" Yang questioned, half enlightened and the other scared.

"I… just talked, I managed to get her to confide in me, and we talked." Weiss replied bluntly, giving a rather half-hearted tone. Yang knew instantly, though, when her friend wasn't telling the full truth. She could see it straight in her eyes, the rather dulled look when she was trying to beat around the bush. With a firm, but gentle grip, The brute pushed the white haired teen to the wall as she gave her a serious look.

"Weiss. You're not giving me a half-assed reply about my sister nearly jumping off of Aincrad. Tell me what really went on."

The heiress could see the seriousness piquing on the blonde's face, her eyes full with concern. With another sigh, Weiss cocked her head to the side. "Well. Most of what I said was true, I talked to Ruby, I tried to get her to reconsider. But nothing was working, and I ran out of any possible ideas to get her to come down. So.. I climbed up atop the ledge with her, and told her if she was gonna die I was too."

Yang's eyes went wide in shock, flabbergasted by the ivory girl's actions. Her mouth opened, trying to make a sentence or even a word, but all she could make was sound. Weiss noticed and continued on. "I briefly told her about Emerald, and what happened to her, confessing to her what I had done. Yeah, I know what you're gonna say. As much as you may think that it wasn't my fault I still blame myself."

Yang still stood with the same shocked expression, before her eyes readjusted and returned to her friend. Weiss looked down in shame and guilt, she had just saved a life by offering her own. She felt her stomach knot, and wished she could just leave everything now, just live in a cave some place away from it all, from the growing anxiety she could feel deep within. Then, something happened that she hadn't expected. Yang enveloped her in a comforting hug. Grasping her firmly as she rested her head on the heiress' shoulder.

"Dear Oum Weiss. What if both of you jumped? What if you two died? I'd be _beyond_ devastated, because not only would I lose my baby sister, i'd lose my closest and best friend that I've known since I was little," Yang spoke from the girl's collarbone, a few tears dampening her shirt. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing both of you killed yourselves! You dunce!"

Weiss could hear the blonde's sobbing intensify as she gripped her firmly, though her body shook from the amount of emotion flowing through her. Her eyes started to well up as she soon too started to cry, grabbing the blonde in a fierce hug as well as the duo sobbed. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so s-sorry.." She spoke, letting out a few sniffles every now and again.

 _Meanwhile…_

Ruby made her way slowly to her bedroom, hearing the faint muffles of the duo downstairs as they talked. She knew it was about her, about what she did. And she half-expected either a lecture, or a bear grip of a hug from her sister once they were finished. With a sigh, she opened the door to her room as she undid her cape and put it on the rack beside the door, closing said door with her opposite hand. Upon further notice, she saw a white jacket hung on the other side of the rack, along with a pair of high heeled boots on the floor. A door suddenly opened behind the redhead as a pair of heavy footsteps lead into the room. Ruby slowly turned her head, noticing Winter in a nightgown and not much else, though it covered almost all of her body. Her hair was out of its usual bun and seemed to be quite damp from showering. The alabaster woman turned her head to find Ruby standing there, and her expression soon mimicked the younger girl's.

"W-RUBY!" Winter shouted.

"AAAHH! I'msosorry!" Ruby shouted, thinking fast as she begun to stutter. "W-wait, What are y-you doing in my room?!"

"Your room?! This is my room!" She rebuked. Pointing to the door. Ruby quickly opened it, soon finding it to be not her room, but the neighbouring one beside hers.

"Ooohh... " The young girl replied defeatedly. "I must've walked in without even looking."

Ruby covered her eyes with her one hand, as to not stare at the woman. "S-sorry, I thought this was my bedroom." Ruby spoke, searching for the rack with the other hand in a blind fashion. "I-I'll just, get my cape and get out of your hair."

The older Schnee sighed as she walked over to her. "It's okay, you can look," She spoke. Ruby complied as she removed her hand from her eyes. The older Schnee grabbed her cape as she whipped it a couple times to straighten it out. "Here, let me."

"W-w-wait, I-I can-"

Before Ruby could finish, The older woman threw the cape around the younger's shoulders as she did it up with finesse. The redhead's face started to heat up as a small blush emanated from her cheeks. "T...thank you," She murmured in in slight embarrassment. Looking down at the rather plump chest that almost seemed to be pressing in her face. She couldn't help but look in slight surprise at the size of them. Even in a virtual game, they seemed realistically shaped. She soon realized where she was and what she was doing as her face heated up even harsher than her outfit as she quickly turned away. "S-sorryI'llleavenowgoodnight!"

And with that, the redhead sped out of the room with great speed, due to her ability, leaving Winter in a flurry of rose petals that accompanied the ability. The white haired woman smirked as she caught one of the digital petals, feeling it with her thumb before bringing it to her nose as she sniffed it. Taking in it's realistic scent before moving on to her bed, the thought of the girl still dancing in her mind.

* * *

Winter awoke to the sound of her regular alarm indicating that it was 6 o' clock. She got up and got dressed in her usual attire, zipping up her boots before putting on her jacket and exiting the room. She went downstairs to the NPC behind the desk as she ordered her usual breakfast. Winter felt different today as she waited for her food and coffee to arrive. Felt brighter, and excited for some reason. She couldn't stop thinking about Ruby, her face seemed to cheer her up, even in the dullest of days in the field. And she couldn't help but feel motivated whenever she fought alongside her. Her food finally arrived along with her coffee, just how she liked it. As she took the first few sips of coffee, her senses alerted her of another person as a small figure walked down the stairs. She wore her cape with the hood up as Winter pieced together Ruby, having only seen her once with her hood up. Her eyebrows elevated in curiosity as she watched the girl walk out of the inn, taking a few bites of her breakfast and downing her coffee before walking briskly to the exit. She scanned the area around her, finding the hooded girl rounding the corner to the left of her as she jogged towards her. She felt devious, following her sister's friend's sister. But she felt almost obligated to follow her at the same time, for protection purposes. She turned the same corner and continued to walk behind the girl, following her out of town, past the prime locations of the map, to an almost secluded area on the first floor, surrounded almost entirely by trees and forestry.

Ruby finally stopped, checking her equipment and outfit as she did small stretches. Monsters started spawning all around her, Winter watched from behind a tree as they all started encircling the cloaked redhead. They weren't very strong, being almost ten or more levels below her. But there was a lot of them as they seemed to surround her. Like wolves hunting a lone fox. The hooded girl threw knives all around the place, instigating the monsters around her as they all started to close in on her. Winter felt her breath hitch as she was about to draw her blade, until she realized she had left it in storage in her room. Her only weapon on her was a hunting knife, and she knew damn well that it would do nothing against a horde that big. She drew her blade regardless, getting ready to run in once there was a clearing. But her body froze in shock and awe as the redhead jumped gracefully in the air and cleaved the first wave of enemies' bodies clean off, landing atop of the monstrous weapon's lengthy grip as she looked around the area to assess her attack. The next monsters ran up to her as they all prepared to attack. An ogre-looking monster had the first attack as it swung it's arms at Ruby. The redhead simply placed her foot underneath her grip and as she jumped, she pulled the blade with one foot and flipped it with the other in the air like a skateboard, cutting off it's head with a spinning aerial attack. She landed back on the ground in a crouched position as the monsters pursued her, doing a corkscrew cartwheel as the next bunch of enemies went flying away with ease.

Winter's jaw dropped as she watched the red scythe wielder jump and flip with said scythe as she cleared each and every monster with tactical finesse, it was like watching a lethal ballerina do the dance of death with everyone around the ballroom floor. She wielded such a big weapon like it was nothing more than a small hoe, when in reality it was a gigantic weapon that towered past her height. Before long, all the monsters were little more than decapitated beings, still crawling with every last bit of fight left in them. Once the area was practically cleared, the white haired girl finally left her hiding spot as she walked over to the deadly redhead. One of the still-fighting monsters decided to leap at Ruby from behind without her noticing, as Ruby turned her head she saw the approaching enemy as she braced for the attack, only for it to get hit by a throwing knife as it finally disappeared. Ruby turned her head to Winter as she walked over to her with a few knives still in her grasp.

"I watched you from the sidelines while the battle ensued," Winter spoke in her formal voice, hiding away the awe and excitement she held from watching such a glorious fight. "I must say, you are excellent with such an enormous piece of equipment, it's a shame you don't use that skill in further-advancing up the newest floors."

"O-oh, thank you." Ruby replied with a blush, holding her elbow from behind her back as she swung her foot like a pendulum.

"Why is it you don't join the front lines? Is it fear of not being good enough? Or do you just have no passion for such an extreme group?"

"W-well, it's not that per say. I'm just afraid, of what might happen." Ruby replied sheepishly, earning a confused look from the older woman.

"What possibly do you mean by that? Please, be more specific." Winter requested sympathetically, walking closer to the girl as she held her hands behind her back.

"Well… I'm just afraid, I'm gonna get more people, more of my friends, killed," Ruby spoke, Winter sensing an unusual decline in her mood as the caped crusader looked down. "I don't really care if I die, it's not something anybody can control really, but if someone I know or is acquainted with me dies, I just… wouldn't be able to forgive myself, haven't been able to since my mom died."

Winter felt her heart disintegrating as she listened to the red cloaked girl, a light of understanding came to her, and she quickly realized her other side as fast as she had learned her normal, more vibrant side. She had no idea what to say, how was she to understand? She had never lost somebody so close to her, but she knew how painful it was to watch. "I… I'm so sorry Ruby." She finally spoke, doing the only thing that felt decent as she enveloped her in a hug. The former let out a sharp gasp, but soon wrapped her arms around the latter as they released each other soon afterwards.

"Thank you Winter, for understanding," Ruby replied earnestly, doing a short bow. "Which is why I am gonna become a solo player."

"Wait, what?" was all Winter could muster.

"I don't like seeing other people die, especially with honour in their hearts. So I want to do this solo, to ensure nobody has to die."

Winter listened with more and more confusion. Though her motives were just and quite brave, her goal seemed farfetched, immature almost. She wanted to protect people, but who could protect them all? More importantly, who would protect her?

"I know it seems rather immature of me, I've been thinking a lot about it," Ruby continued, making Winter ponder whether she could read her mind. "But that's just how I am: immature and independent."

"B..but, Ruby-"

"Nope!" Ruby interjected. "I know this isn't the best way to leave, but could you tell everyone? I want to do this A$AP, also, could you give me some contacts to the frontliners?"

"Ruby…" Winter spoken sullenly, her eyes deteriorating of hope. "I want to come with you, please?"

Winter almost cringed at the sound of her pleas, she sounded like a ten year old in a matured woman's voice. She hoped Ruby didn't quite catch the tone and just said something, anything. But what she got was something completely unexpected, at all costs. Ruby walked up to her, the little kid of a player, compared to the tall woman, and patted her head. It caught her off guard, letting out a sharp breath as she felt the younger's hand rub her head, almost stumbling to the ground. She let go a moment later, brushing her hair to the side as she smirked. "Thank you Winter, for everything you've done. I would not be here right now if it wasn't for you, and your sweet sister too. I know you've feel guilty about Penny's death, but I don't hold you accountable. I never did, and I never will. So please, don't think you have to repay me for the sins I never held you responsible for."

Winter stood still, not able to make words or noises. She just listened, and felt a weight on her shoulders unclamp it's dug-in roots. Her face formed a straight line as she stood expressionless. "You are a really great person, so I know I can trust you to lead whatever team you might inhabit with pride and honour. I hope we meet again someday, soon even."

Ruby held out her hands this time, asking for an embrace. Finally, Winter made a single nodding motion as the younger smirked and embraced her once again, quite possibly for the last time in her life, or at most, for awhile. And so, she wrapped her arms around the younger player this time, holding her in a tight, yet firm hug. She prayed internally that nothing bad happen to her, that she survive on her own. After a few minutes, they parted as the redhead smiled in what seemed like forever, and walked back to the center of the forest.

"Oh, one more thing before I go," Ruby said, turning her head right before pressing the teleport button. "Tell Weiss I said thank you, and that I'll remember her."

And with that, she disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving just the ivory woman standing alone in the forest. Her stomach started churning for some reason, and she could not stop it, no matter how much she tried. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it was weird to Winter in a sensation that she could not describe. And the only thing that ran in her mind, other than Ruby, was what might've Weiss done or said that made her so close to the redhead.

* * *

 _Topaz: Man that was not at all how I originally envisioned this. Then again that's probably for the better. The way I originally envision things is pretty bad._

But seriously Weiss get your woman in check ;) Can't let her run off and get herself killed like that.

 _In any case, as mentioned above this story isn't dead. Getting time coordinated to write while we are both in a mindset to do it is merely more difficult that we would like it to be. I promise we will deliver a final product to you._

*looks over at his pile of unfinished works*

Don't worry about those. I plan to start rewriting them come the 14th of october. Which by the way can I just say welcome to hype train?

You guys go ahead and do your reviews and let's just live another day and hope for the next chapter to be as good if not better than this one was.

Good night!


	8. When Predator Becomes Prey (Part II)

**Hello~! Welcome back to another chapter. I know, it's been awhile. With the commotion of hurricane Irma, and my long-ass break from working on it, we've kinda been away for a little bit. But Topaz and I made a promise that we wouldn't let this die. And I intend to keep that promise as it stands. So yeah. That's all I have to say, stay tuned for more, and I'll let Topaz take it from here.**

* * *

 _ **Hey there Topaz here, now I'm not gonna lie, This entire chapter was written by my partner here and I think that is all for the better because I can't write Blake to save my life. Now hopefully we get ourselves some nice weisscakes going on next chapter. In any case have fun with chapter.**_

 ** _Also Volume 5 if for some reason you do not already know is dropping Saturday, October 14th. Prepare for the HYPE!_**

* * *

 ** _Floor 3, Zumfut, December 14th, 2022,_**

Blake awoke to the gentle motion of a hand shaking her. Opening her eyes, she quickly noticed a young lady with red hair, and her extended arm leading to Blake's shoulder. A part of her tensed up slightly, though it soon melted when she spoke.

"Ah, you're awake!" The redhead said, almost sounding in relief. "I was worried you'd be out all night."

The black cat simply blinked, trying to remember where she saw her. But her mind had all but a few seconds before she realized that she was staring blankly at the redheaded girl. "O-oh, um. Thank you…?"

The girl smiled as her head cocked to the side. "Just happy to have been able to save another fellow player." Asuna spoke.

Kirito stepped into view as he simply smirked, giving a single nod in agreement. "If it's alright with you, we'd like to ask you a few questions about this attack." He spoke.

"Kirito, she's exhausted," Asuna spoke in Blake's defence. "She needs to rest first!"

"I know, I know," Kirito replied. Calming down the redhead. "How about we schedule a meeting tomorrow, Asuna knows a cafe in the southwestern tree."

Asuna opened her mouth to speak, though was cut off when Blake replied with "Sure."

"Alright. We should exchange friend invites," The black clad man continued, making Blake tense up slightly as a small, uneasy feeling crept along her spine. "That way we can message each other."

"O-okay." Blake replied, though still on-edge about the idea of starting another friend's list.

Once the invitations were exchanged between the two players, they both made their way through Zumfut, though with some minor reassurances that Blake'd be fine from thereon. Once the duo left, Blake made her way to the rendezvous spot she told her friend to meet at, carefully sitting down on the bench as she pulled out her book she had been reading.

 _One hour later._

Although Blake looked to be calm, quiet, simply reading her book on the bench. She was becoming impatient, concerned, checking her surroundings and looking up at the time bar every now and again. She was starting to get worried about her friend. She had told her to meet up at the bench Blake sat at. Now she was almost an hour late and there was still no sign of the hooded girl anywhere. Blake had messaged her a bunch of times, getting a quick reply in return. It was starting to gnaw at her, until her cat ears perked up, alerting her of someone behind her. She turned her head, finding the hooded girl, cloaked in her cape as she walked up to the cat girl.

"There you are, I was starting to get worried," Blake greeted as she closed her book and stood up. "You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry," Argo replied as she waved her hands in peace. "I was doing some last-minute info cramming. I completely lost track of time."

The duo gave one another a hug as they sat down on the bench, making it look as though they were just mere strangers.

"But I think what I've found out might help you out a lot, though." Argo continued, making Blake turn her head.

"Oh? What do you got for me?" Blake replied.

"After I teleported back here, I started searching for the players behind the attack."

"Did you find where they are holed up?"

"Even better," Argo replied, handing Blake an envelope-like item. The raven haired girl clicked on it as a bunch of photo's appeared before her eyes, making hers widen. "I've found out that the guys responsible were mere thugs looking to get into the murder guild _laughing Coffin_ , they aren't even affiliated in it yet. They were simply trying to make a name for themselves by targeting us. They're a mere small murder guild with no talent and little to no bite."

"What's the name of their guild?"

"They're known as the ' _Bloodhound's_ ' Though don't be intimidated by their names, they aren't a high ranking guild."

Blake slumped down as she planted her elbows in her thighs and clasped her hands together, thinking back for any clues, until she remembered something. "Wait a minute. The leader said he was with _Laughing Coffin_ though, said killing me would bring him up the ranks."

"The leader of the group supposedly is, working under the Bloodhounds' name. From what I've found, they've been gathering other murder guilds recently," Argo explained, sending more photos to Blake. "That one in particular, the one supposedly you fought, is only a lackey in the group, killing him won't be too much of a big deal to LC."

"That's the problem, though," Blake spoke, clearing her screen of the photos. "He's pretty strong, for a lackey. We were at a fair fight when I crossed swords with him. But with the other guild members, I'd be completely swamped."

"I think I can help you there-"

"Argo, I told you, I'm not going to force you to have to kill. I don't want you to get caught up in all of this."

"I know. Which is why I've found a way to do both; provide a distraction for the guild members without having to dirty my hands, or my cursor."

Blake looked at her funny, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "Oh? And what are you gonna do, send a bunch of monsters towards them?"

Argo opened her bestiary as she scrolled to the one she was looking for, opening it before flipping her screen for Blake to see. The raven's eyes widened as she looked to the hooded player, earning a devious smirk.

"This will be enough…"

* * *

 _ **Floor 3, Southwestern area, Forest of Wavering Mists. December 15th, 2022, 11:20 p.m.**_

A calm breeze blew through the trees as they swayed lightly to the current, though it didn't distract Blake as she sat atop a branch, reading through the report Argo had given her. There was a small camp just to the southwest area of the map where the initiate guild was cited. And her sources were proven right, though the sight of it was far more than what could be described in a data log. The place was in a small patch of land, fairly secluded in the fog, though it wasn't a safe zone. To any normal player, it would take a less-than-fortunate stumble into the place to ever find it. Fortunately for Blake, her advanced detection skills, along with the accessory advantages from her apparel, made finding the place a little easier for her. The camp was large, taking up a good chunk of the southwestern land. Large wooden structures filled the place, with at least 2 or 3 dozen players living among the encampment. Guards patrolled the interior of the camp, with scouts in the trees watching the exterior of it. Blake easily found them and eliminated them first, awaiting the signal to infiltrate. She continued to scout the place out, finding the main building to the far end of Blake's location. The cat shinobi sighed, knowing she'd have to go rooftop to rooftop to get there. Upon further inspection, she found the rooftops were the least patrolled, having only 3 or 4 guards on the different corners of the camp. If she could avoid them, she'd make it easily to the leader's quarters without even needing to unholster her weapon.

Blake finally got a message from Argo, telling her she found the beast and was about to lure it. Blake replied with the commencement as she finally put on her face mask, standing up from her spot in the tree as she took a deep breath.

' _It's show time._ '

With a simple hop off the branch, The shinobi plummeted down towards the lower branches, along with the ground at the bottom. Blake got into a full nose dive before unsheathing her switchblade, switching to katana as she dug the blade into the base of the tree. Slowly, she started to slow herself down, enough to see where to land as she pushed off of the base and landed on another branch. It swayed lightly to the new weight and the g-forces that came with it, though stopped shortly after as Blake pressed on. She ran up to the tip of the tree, where it just reached into the camp as she leapt off. The cat girl did a few corkscrews before landing on the ground below, doing a recovery roll before planting herself against one of the wooden structures. She peered over the wall, finding none of the players had even seen a thing, what with the mist going around the camp. With a nod, The cat shinobi sheathed her weapon as she ran up the side of the wall she was on, grabbing ahold of the roof as she pulled herself up.

Blake scanned the rooftop next, finding all 4 guards at each end of the camp, with no clue as to their most recent intruder. With a silent snort, Blake continued on as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Coming across the occasional gaps that she had to wallrun across, or just pull herself back up on. The mission was getting too easy, as she found herself getting closer and closer to the leader's base. As she neared it, it became apparent that it was not gonna be easy to get into. The exterior walls were fixated with wooden stakes, to try and deter anyone from trying to climb the tower. What's more, Blake started to find more and more guards around it, hiding in different spots around the building. From a distance, the cat girl couldn't see them, but now, she could spot them easily as she crept up behind one who didn't seem to be paying much attention. She walked up slowly, quietly, until she could be seen by the guard. But he had no chance as he was dispatched of quickly.

With the first guard eliminated, she toggled her player highlighting ability, finding the place riddled with guards all around the entrance. The black clad player gazed in surprise, knowing she'd have to be careful. ' _There's too many to deal with, even if I was to eliminate them quietly._ '

Blake scanned around the place, finding the guard posted at the corner of the camp not looking outside of the camp, but watching the inside as well. At first, Blake assumed he was just glancing around the camp, looking around at the place. But soon, another guard came over to relieve him of his duty as he too stood, facing the area of the leader's base. Blake mentally cursed the circumstance. She knew either the leader was a high value player, or he expected her to attack. Either way, he was prepared for whatever circumstance.

Well, almost.

Blake received another message from Argo, making the black haired girl turn around the corner as she opened it. "I got the beast's attention, but I think I've gotten more than what I bargained." she wrote, making Blake confused.

"Wat do you mean by that?" Blake replied.

"U will see, B there soon." Argo concluded, making Blake wonder just what she was planning. The cat shinobi pushed it to the back of her mind as she remembered the mission at hand. She was running a bit behind schedule, and she'd have to find another way to get to the top of the leader's quarters before Argo arrived with the backup. An idea sprung to mind as she jumped to the bridge along the camp's wall, walking over to the posted guard at the corner.

The guard sprung to action as he grabbed his blade, though the cat girl simply sashayed slowly over to the man, giving him a seducing look as she bent over. The man slowly released his sword as he walked over to the girl, giving an intrigued smirk as he grabbed the cat girl's hips.

"Easy there, big boy," Blake spoke. "Haven't you ever heard of man-bait before?"

As soon as she said that, the guard's eyes widened as the girl before him disappeared, and a blade appeared in the player's chest with Blake behind him. The black shinobi simply pulled her sword out of his body, sheathing it as the guard fell to the ground.

"Men, so easily driven," Blake spoke as she walked over the dying guard. "That's why I'll never date one again."

With that, the player disappeared, leaving her to figure out how to scale the large, spikey fortress. A simple thought came to mind as she leapt toward it. She was coming into course with one of the spikes, but as she was impaled, her body disappeared as her real player landed atop the stakes along the walls. She simply walked across, from spike to spike, until she saw an opportune opening at the top of the building. She grabbed her blade again and switched it to it's kusarigama mode, flinging it up in the air as it dug into the exposed side. The cat girl simply walked on the wall, with the blade and the bow as leverage. Before she knew it, she was almost at the top. With a simple jump -and her blade repositioned at the top to hoist her there- Blake landed on the roof as she spotted a couple of guards atop it as well. They weren't paying much attention to the outside, as shown by them huddled over their menu's, looking through their inventories and comparing items from the recent hunt. As Blake noticed them, the two tried to get up as they went to grab their weapons. The easiest to dispatch of, as the black haired simply threw a couple kunai at them, landing in both players' heads as they died. Another guard opened the hatch to the roof, assumedly to relieve one of the guards as he soon noticed the black cat shinobi, along with the crystallized pieces floating away in the calm breeze. He froze up, realizing he was the next victim. Blake simply stabbed him with another kunai, whispering an apology as he too disappeared.

The black cat watched, from the other side of the camp, as a hooded player, along with a wolf with a vibrant yellow mane from the top down, entered the camp. The hooded player stopped suddenly as she dodged the wolf's pounce, slashing it vertically across the lower body as it yelped. The beast landed on it's feet as it's health dropped past halfway. Blake questioned why the attack, until the monster let out a loud howl, echoing throughout the encampment. Suddenly, a pack of wolves jumped out of the woodworks, along with a bunch of other monsters that was chasing the player beforehand. The hooded player simply ran forth, drawing the attention of the guards at the leader's base as they all ran over to see what was going on. It amazed Blake the amount of monsters Argo had alerted, as a huge mob charged at the girl, whom charged at the base. As soon as the players were in a decent range of the hooded figure, they started to draw their weapons as they all charged forth. Blake pointed her fingers to Argo, summoning a shadow clone as it grabbed the girl and jumped to the roof of the building closest to her. The cloaked girl looked at the roof of the fortress, where Blake gave a simple wave and a nod. The girl gave a nod back as she walked over to the back of the building, accompanied by the shadow clone as she started planting the bombs. Blake looked to the mob, where the guards were trying their best to fend off the impending horde, to no avail as it pushed forth. With that in play, the cat shinobi walked to the hatch on the roof, opening it as she hopped down.

* * *

Blake landed quietly in the building as she checked her surroundings for any signs of players. When the area was deemed clear, she moved quietly to the stairs, where she could hear subtle running footsteps of the players on the lower floor.

"Sir, there's a breach in the camp, we don't know how, but there's a growing horde of monsters outside!" One of the guards reported to the boss.

"What?! How is that possible, I thought we set up guards to protect the outer wall!" The boss shouted in anger.

"We haven't heard anything from them recently. I don't know if they abandoned their post, or they were killed," another guard reported. "Nevertheless, what should we do?"

The man seemed to stay quiet, either in thought, or in defeat. Either way, his voice finally entered again. "Try and contain the monsters for now. If there's no chance of winning, order the retreat." The boss finally stated, in a calm response. The guards acknowledged his orders as they ran toward the exit.

"I know you're in here, Black cat shinobi!" The boss announced, making Blake tense up. "I had a feeling it was you when none of my scouts reported this incident."

The black clad woman froze, checking her surroundings as she expected more to appear from the accompanying rooms. "It's just you and I here, everyone else is fending off the horde of monsters you sent here," The boss continued. Walking toward the middle of the first floor. "Come out, so we can have a chat, eh?"

The room went quiet as the man looked around the balconies of the second floor. The quietness grew wary as he sniffed the air. Suddenly stepping back as a few of Blake's shadow clones pierced the spot the man once stood at. They disappeared as the real Blake landed on the other side of the room in front of him. A calm composure to her body as she took out her weapon in it's cleaver form.

"Ah, there you are. The black cat ninja who was rescued by the black swordsman, and that redhead with the fast rapier skills," The man spoke, unsheathing his huge weapon as the tip bounced a couple times on the ground. "I was very disappointed when we had to retreat, but now, I think of it as destiny."

"Destiny?" The cat girl parroted. "What do you mean?"

"When I thought about it, you were equal in skill to me," The man explained, walking closer as his blade slid on the ground, leaving a crease in the wooden floor.. "If it wasn't for those pathetic grunts at my disposal, I think it would've been a lively deathmatch between you and I."

"So, why don't we reenact our previous battle, without any interruptions," He concluded, throwing what looked to be an explosive at the door behind him. It exploded upon impact, sending a scorch of flames around the entranceway as it burned the wooden interior. "Just you and I."

Blake stood motionless, for a brief second, before giving a single nod to the boss. She grabbed the hilt on the back of the cleaver. Unsheathing it as she stood in a fighting stance. The man got into his stance as well, as the duo locked eyes with one another. A brief moment, with only the sounds of the blaze in the background, before they finally charged at one another.

Blake jumped up as she started a vertical spin. She hit the man with a series of 360 degree slashes, but the leader blocked every attack before countering it with a bash, pushing the cat girl back as he pounced at her. His blade activated behind him in a charged sword skill as he hit a shadow clone of Blake, breaking the ground with his blade as the real Blake smashed him away with her cleaver extension. The man skidded slowly to a stop, wiping his lip as he charged again. This time, he brought his blade behind him as he charged at the cat girl again. Blake tried to jump over him in an attempted dodge. But she hadn't anticipated his next move, as the guild leader jumped as well, doing a similar spinning attack Blake had attempted previously. It hit her a couple of times before the black clad brought her katana up to block the rest. As if on cue, the sword skill finally activated as it knocked the shinobi girl off-balance, smashing her back down to the ground. She had little time to react, as she dodged his piercing blow. Doing a couple flips backwards to distance herself.

' _Not bad, he knows how to manipulate his heavy sword with the sword skills, using them as momentum to counter my light blade._ '

The black cat scanned her surroundings, noticing the fire was starting to spread rapidly up the walls, creeping up towards the rest of the building as it ate away at the structure of the wooden fortress. She soon noticed the wooden beams as well, noticing the torches fixated to them as an idea struck her.

' _Hopefully this works!_ '

Blake flipped her blade around in a reverse grip as she sprinted around her opponent. The man reacted quickly, running towards her in an attempt to cut her off. He swung his heavy sword at her. Instead of her making another shadow clone, she threw up her cleaver extension as she grabbed the wooden post, twisting herself on the spot as the man's blade jammed into the wood, nearly an inch away from her fingers. As quickly as the moment happened, blake swung downwards as she hit the man vertically down his body, stopping at the floor as she gripped her cleaver blade and slashed him horizontally. The shinobi pushed off of the leader as she slid backwards, until she stopped at the other beam. The boss, now grunting in anger and frustration, grabbed his sword again as he sliced through the wooden beam, charging at the calm cat girl with berserk rage.

"Fucking cat girl!" He shouted angrily as he activated another sword skill. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!"

The tall leader swung his sword in a fast horizontal attack, though the shinobi girl simply flipped over his attack as it sliced through the next beam. Very quickly, she dug her blade in the lit part of the torch as she activated a sword skill, dousing the blade in the flame. With Blistering flashes of speed, she slashed the man across, bringing herself down with a vertical slash before hitting him with a series of quick speed slices and finishing with a rapid-spinning horizontal slash. The man staggered to his knee as the beam he had cut through finally collapsed with the weight and the burning inferno. The structure was starting to implode with the growing calamity of the fire, causing burning wood and debris to fall on the duo. To add to the chaos that was ensuing, the black cat soon discovered how long the fight was as several explosions rained around the area, making Blake realize it was time to set off the final stage of the massacre. She also realized she was running off-schedule again as she took a parcel out of her bag. The last bomb she was supposed to plant before high-tailing it out of the blast radius. She quickly shortened the fuse as she lit it, sprinting towards the stairs as she tossed it behind her.

Time seemed to slow down as Blake remembered the small details: her turning her head, to see a giant sword smash her across the room. She slowly regained some consciousness as she staggered back up, using her katana as support as she placed her cleaver part on her back. She looked to the culprit as the leader walked forth, emerging from the smoke as he carried his sword across the floor, almost maniacally.

"You… aren't…. Getting out that.. Easily!" He managed to say, tossing the blade up as it bounced on his shoulder.

The black haired girl tried to stand a bit, but her groggy state brought her down as her head spun lightly. Shaking it off, she tried to charge at the man, in a last attempt at beating him. But the leader simply smacked her away, sending her through the walls up to the second floor. Blake quickly recovered from the blow as she grabbed a healing potion from her pouch, she was about to drink it, but remembered the situation at hand as she reached for her blade on the ground in front of her. She got up from the floor, finding a hole in the outermost wall as she jumped through and grabbed the roof of the building next door. She climbed up and leapt for cover as the headquarters exploded in a fiery blast. Breaking the surrounding buildings down.

As a billowing mushroom cloud arose in the air.

* * *

Blake slowly and groggily awoke to a potion being put in her mouth, the cat instinctively drunk it as her vision slowly started regaining. Argo came into view as they both sat on the ground, with the black cat's body slightly propped up on her leg. Blake started regaining her control as she flexed her body, surprised that she wasn't in a large amount of pain, before remembering there wasn't any physical damage inside of the game. Argo smirked, grabbing her shoulder calmly. "I gotcha, partner." She spoke, slowly helping Blake up. The cat girl stumbled slightly, though Argo swooped in to catch her.

"It's okay, just regaining my balance." Blake spoke, walking forward as she slowly regained her posture. The black clad turned to her hooded friend, as said friend gave her katana blade back to her.

"You're probably gonna need this," she spoke, prompting Blake of something behind her. Cocking her head to see, she found the leader, held in the spot by a couple of wooden stakes that used to be on the outer walls of the burning rubble that was the headquarters. His only movement was the rising and lowering of his breathing chest as he lay on the ground. Blake turned her head, looking to her friend. "Now, it's time to finish this," Argo concluded. "I'll meet you back in Zumfut when you're done."

The black cat girl gave a single nod. Sheathing her blade, she turned around as the hooded player jumped over the wooden debris that lay in the stone pathway and fled the scene, disappearing in the smoke.

Blake hopped over to the grounded man, his gaze turning as he heard the noise. He soon noticed who it was as he simply relaxed his body. "There, you are… I was beginning to think you died in the blast." He spoke softly, staring blankly at the raven haired woman.

"I thought you were dead too, how the hell did you manage to survive that explosion?" Blake returned.

"A rogue's got his ways," He replied solemnly. Turning his head slightly to look at her better. "But, alas, I lost. It seems… I underestimated you."

Blake walked up to the man, unsheathing her blade as she flipped it into a reverse grip. "There's something I want to say, before you kill me." The dying leader spoke, stopping Blake.

"Shoot."

"It came to me as we fought yesterday, after I fled back to the tower," He spoke. "I heard rumours, about a woman in one of the promising guilds on the LC recruitment list, White Fang. She had exceptional skills with a switchblade, and was nicknamed the 'leaders apprentice' in the guild. I heard she had unexpectedly betrayed the guild leader by sabotaging a raid-op on the second floor, disbanding from the guild and disappearing in the game. We surprisingly never gotten a bounty for you, but I knew it the second I saw you. And I am starting to understand why: you are a ruthless, violent, hostile being when it comes to personal matters, distancing yourself from this virtual society like the rest of us. You _are_ one of us, yet you chose not to believe it."

Blake paused for a moment, letting the thought sink in for a bit. Suddenly, she started to snicker, which turned into an unbelieving laughter, as if mocking the man. She let out a light sigh, looking down at her victim emotionlessly.

"Perhaps I am. I'm just a numb-minded, psychotic, merciless killer, with a desire to bury my name for good." Blake spoke, looking down at the man with an emotionless stare. "But I saw what my ex-boyfriend was becoming, what was coming of him. All I saw was a beast, with a newfound way to vent his frustrations through this game, this killing game. And I know damn well, I could not stand with him as he killed innocent players, but I could not kill him either."

Blake resumed walking towards the man, bringing her blade up in the air. "There is enough hate and sorrow in this world, it doesn't need murderers killing innocent players. That's why, I must at least try to better this world. Even if it means killing other players,

to restore peace and order. By shouldering the burden alone."

With that, Blake simply thrusted downward, piercing the player in the heart as she watched his health bar finally deplete. His body starting to glow as a death message appeared in front of him.

"Your past… will catch up to you… eventually…."

And with that, his avatar exploded into tiny little light-blue pieces, showering Blake with tiny, pixelated triangles all around her. She rose up from her spot as she pulled her blade out of the ground, twirling the blade in her hand before finally sheathing it on her back. The black haired girl finally lowered her mask from her face, suddenly realizing the two figures; Kirito and Asuna, standing not-too-far in front of her. Blake's eyes widened slightly as she stood, motionless. The look on their faces said all Blake needed to know: Horror.

Another thing came to Blake's mind as she continued to stare at them. How much had they heard of their conversation? She knew she had to ask; she couldn't just continue to stare at them, hoping they didn't see what just happened. And so, she opened her mouth, hoping to elicit something, anything of a noise.

"H...H..how long…" Blake mustered, in what almost sounded like a whimper.

"You were a part of a murder guild, this whole time…" Kirito spoke, dumbfounded by the info. "All this time, I thought you were the victim…"

"Look, you don't understand!" Blake's voice finally returned as she shouted. Her eyes looking on the verge of watering. "And you never will! I see the look, the look of fear, horror, imbedded deep in your eyes. You will never understand the amount of struggle and sacrifice I've went through, in order to even try to clean my slate!"

The duo grabbed their swords as they unsheathed them, Blake grabbing the hilt of hers as reality struck her. A small pain arose in her chest as her eyes started to tear up. "I am sorry you had to find out this way, and I truly am grateful for you rescuing me." Blake spoke, a single step back as she looked at them. "But please. I never killed an innocent player -that's not how I obtained such a reddened cursor- don't make me start with you two."

"It's too late for intimidation," Asuna spoke, charging up her sword skills, readying for an attack. "We're taking you to prison, one way or another."

With that, the redhead blasted forth with impeccable speed, piercing her through the lower chest. Blake stood, motionless, looking down at the blade before back up at the woman.

"I'm… sorry." Blake said. A single tear streaked down her face as a shadow clone disappeared, leaving just the two at the crumbling encampment. Blake watched, from a closeby tree, the duo scanning around for her. Them in a readying stance, awaiting some sort of surprise attack. Little did they know the cat shinobi had already teleported out of the area, leaving just them, in the wreckage of the burning camp.

* * *

Argo tapped her foot impatiently, looking around the area for any sign of the woman, to find nothing. All of a sudden, her detection senses alerted her of someone to the left of her. Coming around the corner was a simple figure cloaked in black cape. Argo looked slightly worried as she backed up slightly, she was in a secluded area, not a lot of people knew about it.

"Relax Argo, it's me." The hooded figure spoke, pulling down her hood as Blake appeared.

Argo sighed as she slumped slightly. "Jesus, Blake. You creeped me out for a minute there," Argo admitted as the black-cloaked woman walked over to her. "Listen. There's something I have that just might help you. It doesn't work with my category of field, so you take it."

Blake received a gift box from Argo as she opened it up, opening it to find a unique ability that not even Blake knew of. "It's a rare ability that you can't ordinarily find twice. A one-of-a-kind type of item," Argo explained as Blake read 'Eyes of The Sabre-Tooth' in the title. "From what I gathered, it boosts the player's attack power greatly, makes them really nimble, light on their feet, And allows them to read the battleground and their opponent."

"Wow, this ability is outstanding," Blake spoke, equipping it immediately. Her eyes changed from her original chosen colour, to a golden metallic colour, along with vertically slit pupils. Blake reacted instantly to the new ability as her new eyes widened. She was able to read Argo's health, weapon of choice, sound bar, and even her main sword skill. It shocked the girl how much it presented her. "Holy crap. This thing's amazing! I can read your status like it was shown right in front of me!"

"That's the power of the ability. Apparently, the developers were gonna have this ability implemented into the game for everyone to use, but they later realized that the amount of data needed to run the thing would make the game crash if everyone used it. They didn't want to scrap the thing, though. So instead they gave it to the one with the highest knowledge skill in the game, activated it a month after the game started."

"Wait, so you're telling me…"

"You're looking at the player with the highest knowledge skill in the game!" She quipped, doing a statue-like pose in glory of her title. "I've had the skill for a little while now, I was actually going to give it to you yesterday, when we met in the forest."

"B...But, why would you want to give this to me? I'm just some lowly player."

"Because you are my friend," Argo stated, making Blake's eyes widen once more. "That's what friend's do, they help one-another."

Blake's face showed shock, until a smirk formed on her lips. "Thanks Argo." She finally spoke, earning a smirk from the latter. The black cat shinobi lowered her head slightly as another thought came to mind, the next question on her list.

"There's something I have to ask of you. A favour," Blake spoke, earning her undivided attention. "Can I trust you to keep my identity, my location, a secret?"

"Of course Blake, I would never rat out a friend."

"Okay. Thank you," Blake spoke. "There's a couple looking for me right now: A man named Kirito, and a woman named Asuna, they saw me execute the leader. Just forewarning you now. I have no quarrel with them, but they mustn't learn of my hideout you've established, and as far as we know, _this_ never happened."

"Understood," Argo nodded, giving a salute. "Here is the key to your hideout, while the subject is still open."

Argo handed Blake the key, the latter putting it in her pocket as she turned back to the info broker. "Thank you so much, for everything." The black haired girl said, wrapping the latter in a hug as the two embraced one-another. For the last time in probably a long time.

"Make sure to drop a text every now-and-again, come see me." Argo spoke, earning a nod in her shoulder as the duo finally parted.

"I will. I hope to see you sometime after New Year's," Blake stated. "But for now, I have to disappear, until at least the incident has blown over."

"What incident?" Argo asked, feigning a puzzled look.

"That's my Argo," The cat girl spoke. "Take care, friend."

Blake walked forward, passing the hooded info broker as she turned her head to the side. She gave a single nod, before jumping over the railing and landing in the alleyway of the shopping district. She flipped her hood up as she walked forward, looking at the key to her hideout as a small feeling of abandonment sunk in the girl's heart.

" _...Goodbye..."_


	9. The Hunt

**Heyo! What is up my doods. We're back with another BOA. It's been awhile, ik. But December rolled by real quick, and Topaz and I have been busy as hell last month to even work on it (Like we stopped texting each other for a solid MONTH). But yeah. I should probably state that this month will probably be worse, because both xmas and New years are coming and I usually do special chapters for both on my original work TWR (...n-not to advertise my own works. If so, then u should also definitely read Topaz's Wishes Beyond Space and Time. I personally like it and have even helped him work on it once in a blue moon). So yeah. But enough of that. Back to the main story.**

 **So yeah, topaz and I have broken down the workload, I've written the intro and ending, Topaz worked on the Weiss and Yang bit (and might I say, he can play the ice queen fucking perfectly, A+ in my books man). As always, enjoy. And I'll see you again in January**

* * *

 _Southern Area, Forest of Wavering Mist, December 18th, 2022, around 10 a.m. 4 days after the massacre._

The air was still in the foggy forest, a calming atmosphere instilled in the place as the black cat simply drunk her tea in her favourite spot in the safehouse. There was a window just behind her that provided ample lighting for her to read her book. Because of the location, that light remained there until sundown. Blake spent her first whole day in the safehouse sitting by that perfect spot. In her routine, there was little time to indulge and immerse in a good story. So she took the opportunity as she saw fit and brought one of the comfier looking chairs over to that ideal spot. Blake hadn't realized how much time had passed until the lighting started to fade and the candle light's automatically turned on, signalling the end of the day.

The raven haired woman took another sip of her drink as she flipped her page, finding the end of the book as she closed it with a frown. She had liked the story, and now, there wasn't much else to do. She got up from her spot as she looked around, opting to finally put away some clothes. Though she wasn't going to stay for very long -it was only a temporary place, and something to return to, should she run into trouble again- She had at least put some things away to help ease her into her new home. She had read up that putting personal belongings in a home helps ease oneself into their new environment, and she already spent her first day lazing about. Blake walked into the small bedroom section of the bachelor pad as she went over to the dressers. Fortunately for her, putting away clothing in-game was a breeze. She simply pressed on the dresser door as it opened on it's own, revealing an empty list of inventory. She opened her own menu and simply dragged the clothing icon's into the dresser's inventory. In less than 5 minutes, her apparel inventory was neatly folded and stored in the dresser as they closed automatically.

Once finished, the black clad girl brought her now empty mug to the kitchen area of the pad, turning around as she gave a thorough sweep of the whole house. It wasn't too big. It had a living room area at the far end, near the doorway, a small dining room and kitchen area to the right corner where she stood. And a closed-off section for the bedroom to the left of her. It was a small, cozy place, and Blake felt she was finally all alone. It wasn't new to her. She felt isolated from most of society IRL anyway, so she was used to being independent. But something felt wrong to her. Or rather, she felt something release. An empty feeling inside her. It was then that she came to a conclusion.

Blake was all alone.

It seemed to fill her with a growing sadness, one she felt she could not suppress just standing there. And so, she walked over to the doorway, putting on her shoes before gearing herself up and exiting the empty house.

The air felt calm as she walked out of the house, a faint breeze blowing by as she walked down the giant branch that made up the house's walkway. The safehouse was located atop one of the giant trees the Forest of Wavering Mist had to offer. It provided sound seclusion to any and all threats. The place was too high up to spawn any monsters, and the thick fog cloaked the air below it, making it nearly impossible to spot from the naked eye. Even Blake herself had a hard time finding it, even with her accessory buffs.

The black shinobi jumped off of the giant branch as she plummeted through the thick mist. Though she could see clearly through the fog due to her new ability. She unsheathed her weapon and switched into kusarigama mode as she flung it at a nearby branch. The blade dug into the bark as she started to swing. With the momentum built, she launched up in the air, doing a backflip as she regained her balance and landed on one of the lower branches. The tree swayed lightly from the drop, but kept level as the shinobi girl returned the blade back in her grasp. Blake returned her weapon back into it's holster before jumping down to the ground below.

The black cat quickly planted onto the nearby tree as she searched around the area with her cat eyes. Finding nothing more than mere graphical animals scurrying across the tinier branches and the calm brush. Once the place was all clear, she continued her trek through the forest.

* * *

Cold, that was how the atmosphere felt to the child of snow. A beautiful rose had left her view and she was scared it would wilt in her absence, the inferno that was her closest ally had been reduced to a simmer, and her sister was not but a guilty mess.

Immediately after Ruby left they found out from Winter, that was when their group began to spiral out of control. Yang gave her a right hook worth remembering before storming out to search for her sister. Then when Weiss' sister sought comfort, she found none in the cold confused eyes of the ice queen. Between the strange feelings that had been blooming in Weiss and the utter shock of Winter not stopping Ruby, She just didn't know how to feel. The three of them didn't speak until the next day. Since then Yang had been nonstop training in a passive aggressive rage and Winter was barely present at all, leaving Weiss alone to handle all of what needed to be done to maintain them.

That had been about a week ago today

Thus as the first snow began to fall on the first floor Weiss began to silently cry, tears for her friend who was currently broken, tears for herself longing for an answer to what was going on, and tears for her sister hoping for her to find direction again. If not for this game she wouldn't be feeling like this, if not for this game Ruby wouldn't be so broken and Yang would still be herself.

' _Calm yourself Weiss. If you hate this game so much, you know what you need to do'_

And so she did what she always did. She froze her heart, she froze the sparks of emotion that were building within her, the river of tears flowing from her, Frozen. All that was left was one strong desire, the wish to bring a solid unity back to her life, to have her family with her again.

Moments later she was at the room of the blonde that she thought of as one of her sisters, Yang still pounding away at the damn punching bag she made. The sounds of the brawler jabbing away at it frustrating Weiss as she knew this was just another part of her friends extended tantrum.

"Yang, stop."

One last punch blew into the bag before Yang turned to face Weiss, glaring at her with intensity the heiress had never seen before. It wasn't long before the heiress realized she glared not at Weiss but at the mere notion that she was being interrupted.

"What, do you want." Yang spat as she questioned her friend, a behavior not unknown for her when she's anything like this.

"First, I want you to apologize to Winter for your actions," Yang opened her mouth to object but Weiss ignored it and continued, "Second, I want you to calm down and stop acting like you're the only one angry at how things went."

With that Yang closed her mouth and grit her teeth, she was beyond frustrated about the turn of events but even she knew yelling at her best friend wasn't going to help the matter. Instead she took a deep breath before nodding to Weiss and waiting for her to continue. Weiss took that queue and began to speak again.

"And thirdly, it's almost Christmas and I want my family together for it. So we're going to need to snap Winter out of her funk and either drag your sister back kicking and screaming or we need to join her. Either way we need to find her and you are about as much of a bloodhound when it comes to her as I would ever hope to find. So I want you to come with me so we can knock some sense into her."

Yang just stood there agape while she processed what had just been said, she hadn't even realized what day it was until Weiss mentioned the upcoming holiday. More importantly was exactly what she had said; her family included at least three people who weren't in the game so she clearly did not mean anything about blood. The realization that Weiss thought of Yang and Ruby as part of her family caused Yang to grin. To which Weiss chuckled before returning the smile.

"I take it I have your cooperation?"

"Neiss Weiss definitely has my cooperation," Yang replied with the goofiest of grins on her face as she felt a weight lift off of her shoulders.

"I will brew coffee, and I will pour it on you, and it'll will ruin your hair." Weiss replied with a deadpan expression before softening and walking out of Yang's room. She needed to let the blonde get ready and the heiress needed to go get information anyways. They had just less than a week to do what she wanted, and yet she had no doubts they would find their target.

* * *

The air felt cooler below then up above in the treehouse, which was one thing Blake had noticed when she first arrived there. The digital sun gave warmth to the taller trees above. And choked the forest below in a bone-chilling fog that seemed to never end. Truth be told, she hated the 3rd floor. But seeing as it was the most secluded map of all the three floors, it was the only option when dealing with threats as big as her ex-boyfriend, and the White Fang guild he ran. Thinking back to when they first met, it seemed almost harmless. He was never dangerous, never violent in any sort of way. In fact, Blake would've been more than okay with him meeting her parents, if it wasn't for the fact that they kicked her out a long time ago. It didn't make sense to the black haired shinobi, how it came to be such a hostile environment. But then she remembered one key thing, something Adam always used to defend his actions.

This. was a killing game.

He had told her that, right after the announcement with the man behind it all, Kayaba. It was a game of survival, and they had to fight to rise up and live. At first, it was just a few petty guilds, trying to take what they had earned. But as the game progressed, the guilds started running less and less. Thus, Adam and the guild decided to flip the tables, attacking any guild that opposed them. Even those that were unfortunate to stumble across them were eradicated without second thought. And the worst part, it wasn't just him. Pulling the deeds, stealing and robbing other players. Blake was his right hand woman. And while she pledged to never kill innocents, she had just as much blood on her hands as her psychopathical boyfriend. It was there that she had the conclusion: The game was evil. Drawing out fight in even the most innocent of players. Demanding death of the weaker, while promoting the stronger. It was the root of all evils, and Blake knew quite well she was no exception.

' _It's just like the leader said to me, right before I killed him,'_ Blake thought, holding her hand up as she stared at it guiltily. _'The players I've killed in order to attain my freedom. They had no quarrel with me. I'm just like them.'_

"W-what… have I done…?"

Her thought process was halted when her ears twitched, turning around as she jumped and threw a few throwing stars at the branches up above. The black cat shinobi landed atop the nearest branch as she equipped a couple kunai from her pouch. Spinning them with her fingers before gripping them in a reverse grip. She scanned around the area for the culprit, but coming up with nothing. Suddenly, the branch in front of her swayed as an odd looking distortion in the shape of a person, with two different coloured eyes -one brown and the other pink- stood before her as her info bar appeared before Blake. She used three key abilities: Illusionist, Weapon Spawn, and Flexibility. And she bore a simple name.

Neo.

"I can see through your illusion ability, attacker." Blake spoke. Throwing one of her knives at the distorted figure in front of her. The person simply grabbed the oncoming knife with ease as her distorted figure finally appeared before Blake. The woman wore simple brown leather chest armour, with pink and white high-heeled boots, along with black leggings. The girl was very short, looking to be barely 5 feet, even in heels. Her hair was a dual combination of pink on one half, and dark brown on the other, similar to her dual coloured eyes. Blake steeled herself for another attack, though the smaller woman simply smirked sinisterly as she let go of the knife, bringing her arm to her side as a distorted white and clear figure appeared in her hand. The glow broke off as an antique looking umbrella appeared. The multicoloured girl placed the umbrella on her shoulder as she turned her head to the side in a slightly flirtatious blush. Her head turned back, and as she opened her eyes, Blake noticed the colours switched places with each other.

The black cat ninja had all but a second to react to a foot coming to her face, blocking the attack immediately as she swept the other leg. Neo's eyes widened as she was swept off her feet, before noticing the far drop below the duo as Blake held her suspended from her previous foot she attacked with. The sound of an unsheathing sword brought Neo's attention back to the girl as she pointed her blade at the girl's back.

"Don't make me have to do this, Neo," Blake spoke. The multicoloured woman's eyes widened from her name brought up. "I have killed many more before you. Do not make me hurt another unnecessary victim."

The girl remained still for a moment, before trying to attack the black cat one last time. Blake simply ducked as she sighed sorrowfully. "I see. Forgive me then." She said, before piercing her blade through the woman's chest. Blake's eyes widened as an illusion of the girl disappeared. The black clad turned her head to a flying foot behind her.

The cat shinobi blacked out, she awoke to the feeling of the cool ground, and the image of a girl with a blade coming straight for her. Blake reacted with rapid fast reflex as she guided the blade to the side of her head, skimming past her ear in a bright red glow, along with her hands. The black cat's eyes widened in a feeling she had felt only a couple times before. A close second in her books, with Adam being the first. It was the realization that the person was far stronger than her, and if she slipped up even once in the battle, she was gonna be killed. And so, she decided on an approach that nobody else dare try. A rather sympathetic plot.

"Neo, please listen to me," Blake spoke. Instead of attacking, she grabbed the shorter's closest shoulder as she looked at her empathetically. "The path you're following is a very dark one."

The black cat disappeared as the real Blake stood right beside her. The multicoloured person swung her sword at the cat shinobi as said girl dodged it and grabbed her oncoming kick. The duo was locked in a stalemate as Blake grabbed Neo's hand that held her sword. "This game's twisted. It corrupts good people, and turns them into killers. Killers like you and me," She spoke, making Neo's eyes widen slightly as she processed what the black clad was saying. "I say this because _I've_ seen it happen, I've been apart of it. Please, believe me when I say that path is just a never-ending pit. It will swallow you-"

Blake was cut off by a swift upwards kick, knocking her back a fair distance as she crashed into the tree behind her. Blake had all but a split second to recover as she rolled out of the way of an oncoming blade. The tree cut in half as it creaked and broke apart in a realistically eerie sound. Soon, it began falling the black cat's way as her eyes widened, sprinting as fast as she could from the fast-descending tree. She turned her head to see it was almost atop the girl, reacting fast as she jumped out of the way. The tree barely missed Blake as it fell with a loud thud, whacking her across the field and into another tree. Blake laid on the artificial dirt floor, winded and shaken as she slowly staggered back up. She was thankful there was no pain inside the game, as she could only imagine the amount of wrenching pain her body would be in after that. She could see a series of small, pixelated red gashes all over her body and attire. And her health bar was a shade of yellowish green as almost a full quarter was depleted. Blake turned her head to see the smaller woman, walking through the dust and debris, her blade shimmering in the light as she was walking up to Blake.

"Fine then. If my words won't resonate with you," The black cat ninja spoke, unsheathing her cleaver blade as she pulled the inner blade out of the extension. She held it up in a diagonal position as she readied herself.

"Then I'll just have to show you."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in Zumfut. About 12 p.m._

The districts around the town were growing big as players from all around the 3rd floor started to crowd the important kiosks and booths around the town. After the massacre of the mercenary guild, the players had been growing more and more wary. It was deemed unsafe to go alone in the Forest of Wavering Mists. With people all over warning them to stay in packs and work to beat the floor boss, and players hooking up with safeguarding guilds to prevent any more from being killed. But there were still those few, those brave enough to go alone. Those with the skill to manage solo.

The walkways of Zumfut turned into giant highways as the crowds of people all moved in unison to the flow of traffic. An old looking man watched the flow from one of the shops near the contract board, watching the players taking missions from the NPC's who ran the quest delivery service. The man scoffed, watching as a small party finally received a mission as they merged with the traffic of people, followed by a new group of people about to do the same thing. "Jeez. The players these days, always wanting to take on these quests one-by-one. Nobody has time to stop and enjoy a nice beverage, or try some of the delicacies Zumfut has to offer…"

"It's because each-and-every one of us has a loved one, a family member. Someone to go home to."

The man jolted as he spotted a young player cloaked in a red hooded cape staring at the bulletin board in front of her. The man hadn't even saw her come up to it the split second he turned his head. "Jesus!" He exclaimed, clutching his heart as he alleviated the rapid thumping. "You're gonna give me a heart attack IRL, sneaking up on an old man like that."

The girl seemed to pay no attention to him as she turned her head to the side, peering over her shoulder at a group of men looking over one of the posted flyers on the board, the very one she was looking for.

"Man, I heard rumours about her," One of the men in the group spoke. "Apparently, this player killed an entire small guild all on her own."

"Yeah, they call her the black cat shinobi, because she wears ninja-esque clothing, and a hairband that sports black cat ears. Apparently, it gives her a great boost. It's what makes her so deadly here, on this floor."

"What else do you know of her?"

The group jumped in shock as they realized the young girl in red. A few rose petals floated away in the movement of the crowd beside them as the young girl walked up to them.

"What more can you tell me?"


	10. Clash of Red and Silver

**Heyo! Dstone here. welcome back to another installment of BoA. It's been awhile, ik. But with all that's going on in my life, it's been hard to find time. But I'm here now and I come bearing gifts. Most particularly, a story. And a juicy one indeed. I wasn't truly planning on making it so long, but with all I wanted in it, it needed to be compacted and refined. Topaz and I kept shooting ideas back and forth. Some we thought were just too difficult to work, while others were perfect for the story. Nonetheless, I hope y'all like. And without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

 ** _Southern Area, Forest of Wavering Mist, December 18th, 2022, almost 1 p.m._**

Peace and serenity floated throughout the Forest of Wavering Mist. The digital animals scattered throughout it's forest, birds chirped in the pixelated sky as they floated around the area. Everything was calm and quiet in the untouched brush. But as fate would have it, the peace wouldn't last long, as a certain destructive duo fought one-another throughout the branches. Weaving left and right before they clashed at an impasse. A moment dawned on them, where the two looked each other in the eye, before the black clad spun over the girl as she pushed off her opponent's back and landed on a branch. She crouched on said branch and watched as the multicoloured girl landed on the ground hard. The black clad woman looking away slightly as to fight any feeling of remorse in her.

"I've warned you, little girl. You want to play with the dark flame…"

The girl looked up in shock as she quickly rolled out of the way, before the black cat landed in the spot with her blade dug into the ground. She quickly pulled it back out as she swung it at her again, though Neo simply rolled backward as she regained her posture and clashed with the cat shinobi once more. They locked eyes again. Though this time seemed more fearful as Neo starred in fear, as Blake's eyes burned a fearsome amber hue.

"You will be _snuffed_."

* * *

The search parties littered the entirety of the southern half as hunters' searched for traces, clues, anything. Their hearts set on the bounty, and the large sum that came with it. It had grown to be the biggest manhunt since the game started, and everyone was trying to look for her. From the small 4 man party's, to the bigger and stronger guilds, even the PK guilds were on the hunt. Searching away from the bigger groups as to not stir up any trouble for the most part of the hunt.

"Any signs?" One man asked his comrades, though earning disappointing shakes as they continued searching.

"Where could she be?" Another asked.

"It's a big map. Hell, she could've slipped by us already and we wouldn't even notice."

"Nah, we have backup groups behind us, if she was to slip by, she wouldn't get far anyway."

"We have to expand this search party, it's not wide enough." Asuna spoke, looking around the forest as she let out a disapproving sigh.

"It's all we have, it'll do," Kirito spoke. Turning to see the redhead's unwavering stare as he shook his hands out. "The only other people on this floor are bandits and PKers, and I'm pretty sure they won't do us any good."

With that, Asuna let out a noticeable 'hmph'. "Fine, if this is all we have…" She concluded, continuing to search around.

"I can help you."

The sudden voice made the black and red duo jolt as they turned around, finding a little girl cloaked in a red cape standing on the nearby root of a giant tree. The two panted lightly as they tried to regain their edge. "Jeez, you scared us, I think my body jumped irl." Kirito joked, though the rapier wielder paid no attention as she walked over to the girl.

"W..what is your name, little girl?" Asuna asked calmly.

"My name isn't important, What matters is we are on the same hunt, and I can get her for you."

"Her? You are in the manhunt as well?"

The red cloaked girl gave a single nod. "Yes, but I need info first. From what I've learned so far, she bears a similar outfit of a ninja, with traits of a cat. I've been told you could give me more info on her."

"Wait, you're planning to rush forward to try and confront her, aren't you?" Kirito asked, earning another nod. "Well, don't try. This woman took down an entire clan single handedly. She's a merciless killer-"

"The clan she massacred was a former Laughing Coffin initiate group. An entire clan of PKers and thugs," The little rose spoke, looking the man straight in the eyes. "It's okay to harbour distrust in someone like that, but do not paint a skewed image based off of your own personal opinion."

Her statement made the black haired grow silent as he seemed to look down in defeat. The redhead started to grow frustrated as she looked to the red cloaked girl, though she paid little attention as she sighed. "Can you at least point me in the direction of her whereabouts?"

Asuna pointed to the left of her, to the untouched brush that laid ahead, "She was reported to be over there. Our team is making a thorough sweep to her location." She reported.

"Very well, thank you." The red caped rogue complied. Jumping over to the next large root as she looked in the general direction.

"Wait," Asuna spoke, stopping the red cloaked girl as she peered over her shoulder. "Can you at least tell me a nickname, something to call you, should we meet again?" She asked.

"You can call me _Rose_." Ruby spoke. As if on cue, her body started disintegrating into rose petals as it moved in the direction of the forest path. The group watching in awe as she floated away without a draft in the air.

"Rose…" The redhead parroted, catching one of the rose petal's as she examined it in curiosity. Before she could question it, however. The group continued the search as they all started to move at a quicker pace through the forest.

" _Be careful, little rose."_

* * *

The southern end of the forest turned into a rave as flashes and debris from the ground floated in the area around the black cat shinobi and her multi-coloured opponent, both of them panting as they used what little bits of stamina they could regain back to take another swing, and both sides covered in equal hits. Blake had to admit, the shorter woman knew how to hold her own in battle. Every swift attack was either dodged or blocked by her thin blade. Had it not been for her newest abilities and her training in the field, Blake was certain she wouldn't have made it. She needed time to think, to recover. And so, she changed her tactics. The black shinobi girl finally sheathed both parts of her blade as she got into a ninja-esque stature. A rare ability that she hadn't used since the last fight with her old partner. The little girl saw it as an opportunity, rushing forward with the last bit of stamina she had as she activated her sword skill and swung at the shinobi. The glowing blade sliced diagonally down the body, though no usual red glow came after as a copy off herself disappeared, leaving the neapolitan woman alone in the now-settling forest.

Neo looked around the area, scanning the trees and the atmosphere around her for signs. Though there was no movement, nothing but the sound of silence around her, making her more and more on-edge as she backed up to the middle of the battleground.

"You are pretty strong, I underestimated you." Blake spoke, though the latter could not pinpoint her exact location. "We are two different people, fighting for different reasons. But at the same time, you and I, we are very similar."

The quiet woman continued to look around, unable to figure out the black clad's next move as she started to grow more wary. "You are trying to kill me, as am I. But I don't _want_ this anymore. I don't want to hurt you, I want to help you!" Blake shouted, making Neo finally stop as she listened in. "You're looking for something, that's why you're here, trying to kill me and bring back my relic. But I want to help you, I want to show you a better way than this. Please, let me help you."

The multicoloured girl didn't budge as she continued to search around for the black cat. Finally she grew impatient as she rushed the nearest tree, hacking it off and sending it flying towards the other trees. When that didn't work, she rushed over to the last nearest location of Blake's voice as she looked up the tree, clutching her throat as a holographic filter could be heard from her mouth.

"What I seek," Neo spoke, a hollow, robotic sound emanating from her mouth, as if speaking through an autotune. "I cannot get from you, then."

Blake paused mentally as she tried to decipher what she meant, before a darkened thought finally came to mind. "Neo please. This is only a game, we can beat this!" The black cat replied. "Just drop your weapon and we can stop!"

"Game, reality, there's no difference. You work your way to the top, and if you falter, you just reset and try again," The multicoloured woman spoke, slowly walking forward with her head low. "The only thing I seek... is death. One way or another."

Blake listened to the smaller girl, it was like a cry, a plea. Something begging to be released from her grasp. It saddened the black clad, made her chest tighten up in pain. Though she could feel none in the game they were in. And that's when it made sense to her. Her motive wasn't exactly to kill her; it was merely a trial of 'survival of the fittest', and she cared not whether she won or lost the battle. ' _So this is your true intent. Neo. I'm sorry you feel this way. I can finally see it now, the pain of reality's made you crack._

 _You remind me of myself.'_

"...If that is what you ask. If you won't hear my plea," Blake spoke, unsheathing her weapon. "Then I have no choice. I'm sorry for you, Neo."

With that, Blake landed atop the tinier woman in a flash of black. Though the latter's body disappeared in a holographic glitch as the black clad remained crouched. She started looking around the battlefield for any signs when none appeared. The cat shinobi got up from the ground as she listened in for any signs of the girl. "You knew of the dangers, you knew fighting me would have a similar backlash, that's why you came after me," Blake spoke, looking around. "I might have pity for you, little girl, but I won't have mercy for someone who's trying to kill me, not after all I've been through."

The cat shinobi suddenly did her signature pose. Suddenly, 4 more copies of Blake appeared as they all looked in different 90 degree positions, shutting their eyes in unison. "There's more than meets the eye when fighting me. Tactics and moves I've never even used yet. For example, **This**." Blake spoke. Opening her eyes rapidly as a burning glow started to shine in each one of her copy's eyes, along with her own set. With that, her surroundings became monochrome as she searched for any depictions of the girl. She unsheathed her weapon and activated her sword skill, launching a slash attack across the plains as it sliced through the tree in front of her. It started to sway as it fell towards the group of cat shinobi's, though every one of them dodged the digital piece of nature as they awaited something.

Suddenly, a striking blow knocked one of the copy cat's away as it evaporated, soon another following suit as the remainder finally caught sight of the girl, although her invisibility perk was active, her newest ability could see her body image easily as one spun around and sent the girl back with a spinning kick, causing the invisible girl to tumble several feet away. The attacks didn't end there, though, as the black cat shinobi rushed forward, her sword skill active as her violet purple blade dragged on the ground. She swung it upwards in her reverse grip as another slash attack ripped through her opponent, though another glyph disappeared as Blake was once again alone on the battlefield.

Suddenly, her other clones detected an oncoming threat as another copy was impaled by the tiny girl's thin blade. The last copy jumped backwards in a spinning motion to deflect the oncoming kick heading her way. Landing on her hands as she finished with a handspring. Blake had little time to deflect another attack as Neo's blade skidded aside the girl's mid-section, gripping the blade as the weapon was locked in place. Neo tried to rip the blade out of her opponent's grasp, but before she could the other black cat shinobi sent her away with a flying kick. The pink-and-brown coloured girl recovered quickly as she began running back towards her foe. As she started to close in, her eyes swapped colours as 2 mirrored copies of her ran alongside her, soon getting close to Blake once again. The black cat had to react quickly as she and her copy unsheathed their blade's, swinging in opposite directions as the 2 lookalike's shattered, though the real Neo vaulted over them and landed with a summersault, grabbing her blade in the process. The black clad duo looked back as they rushed toward her again, one swinging diagonally downward while the other upward in order to try and catch her off-guard, though she simply twisted her body to evade said blades as she took out the last copy with her knee.

With it now just the two again, the duo clashed blades with one-another as they fought to overpower each other, sparks coming off of their blade's as they did. The duo seemed to be in a stalemate as they took a glance at one-another, both with struggling face's as the black clad sighed.

"This much skill with a blade, and you still choose to do this," Blake spoke, looking Neo in the eyes. "How far gone is your heart that you've come to this? How long has your eyes been closed for that you'd resort to kill or be killed?!"

The shorter woman said nothing, only simply smirking as she closed her eyes. The black cat looked puzzled, until she opened them again, finding her iris' returned to normal, before Blake could process what was happening, the girl shattered like a mirror as a body jumped on her back and started spinning around. It threw the cat shinobi off-guard as she started spinning her around with her legs and body, before sending her through the nearest trees and landing a couple hundred metres away.

Blake's head spun as she fought to regain consciousness, she could feel herself slipping in and out of it, like a calm wave going over her. She finally regained enough conscious to find her blade a couple feet in front of her. She struggled to reach for it, dragging herself with all she had left in her. Her arms looked like they went through a blender, with multiple series' of wounds all up and down herself. Her health wasn't looking good as she caught glimpse of the last few droplets of her HP.

' _No… I can't just die now… after everything I've been through._

 _Is this… the price I pay, for everyone I've killed…?'_

Blake finally came close as she tried to reach for her weapon, coming near it a couple times as she struggled to get a grasp of it. She could see it, see the multicoloured girl. A saddened look on her for a moment, almost looking as though on the verge of tears. But it ended as quickly as it came as she spun her blade in a reverse grip, walking over before bringing her sword up in the air, Blake struggling with all of her might to just touch her weapon, before her last amount finally faltered and her hand fell to the floor.

' _This is what I deserve, after everything I've done…_

 _I'm sorry.'_

* * *

The multi coloured woman walked over, weapon in a reverse grip as she slowly walked over to the downed woman. The latter's hand desperately reaching for her blade, though coming just too short as she finally collapsed, bruised and beaten from their battle. Neo raised her blade in the air, getting ready to pierce the cat shinobi, ending her life for good. When she caught glimpse of something. A lone rose petal, landing atop the black clad's weapon. She looked at it for a moment, before returning to the task at hand as she brought it up as high as she could, sending it downwards rapidly as she was rearing to stab her.

Suddenly, a flash, followed by a large clash of metal echoed. Neo started to shake violently from the recoil of it. Before she could register any more, whatever it was spun around counterclockwise as it came towards the shorter girl, her only reaction was to block whatever it was as it sent her flying with incredible impact. When she finally came to, she saw a figure, clad in a red cloak. But above all else, a massive scythe cropped atop her shoulders, ready for any other attack. The shaken girl looked at her weapon in her hand as her eyes widened, finding her blade broken in half as the other piece sat in the ground beside her. It astonished her as she watched her weapon soon turn to pixels right before her eyes. Making her gasp quietly.

Before she could think any further, the scythe wielder began to rush toward her as panic started to set in. just like that, Neo disappeared in the split second the red clad girl hacked the tree clean off, falling to the side with a low thud. The hooded girl looked around the area, searching for the opponent. When the area was deemed clear she spun her blade around in the air like a mere baton and set it back in the holster on her back, cocking her head around to look at the woman on the ground.

Ruby removed her hood as she crouched beside the downed player. Several various gashes and cuts riddled her body as she laid on the ground. The only movement coming from the slow rhythmic raising and falling of her chest as she lay. The young player nudged the black haired woman before her. When no response came from her she carefully rolled her over, soon noticing the pair of black cat ears and attire she had on -albeit ruined from battle- as her eyes widened slightly. "You're… The Black Sabre Cat Shinobi," Ruby spoke. Though the unconscious woman could not hear her.

"You're the one the entire floor's after."

As if on cue, cries could be heard in the horizon where the red cloaked girl came from as it slowly grew louder. Ruby would've been more-than-content with their arrival. But there was something wrong with the decision, something off-putting about killing a critically injured woman, especially with no real answers to why. Her mind debated on what seemed right and what seemed just. But time was running short. And so, she tossed all options aside and decided to do what seemed morally right to her. She stepped over the unconscious woman with her hood drawn up as the party finally arrived at her location, immediately noticing the target as their expression turned bright.

"Ha! I knew the young girl had potential! She subdued her!" One man exclaimed as he pointed out braggingly.

"Finally, this hunt can be finished," Another squabbled. "I wasted a full day to finding her."

The group started to approach the duo, though halted when Ruby whipped her arm out from her cape, catching them off-guard. "NO!" the red clad shouted, creating confusion within the community.

"No? What do ya mean 'no'?! Let's finish this!"

"No! I won't let you kill this woman!" Ruby announced, making the crowd grow even more dumbfounded. Before anyone could argue back, the young rose pointed to the target.

"She's a target to all of you. But nobody has seemed to bat the million-dollar question. So **I WILL.** " Ruby spoke, now making the crowd grow silent. "Why are you all after her?! What has she done to create such a boycott?! Do you even know who she is, what she's truly done?!"

"Where is she? I was told she was fo-" Kirito's voice spoke out, breaking the silence of the group before Ruby as he soon caught sight of them. "Ah, it's the young girl in red. What seems to be the problem?"

"We have the perfect opportunity to kill our target, and this little brat won't allow it." One of the players told the man. Making the black swordsman and his partner walk through the crowd to the girl.

"Why are you defending her? Do you realize she's a wanted criminal?"

"For what reason?! Why do you insist on destroying her when she could tell us what happened? Have all of you gone mad from this killing game that all logical reasoning is tossed away by a coin symbol?"

"Enough!" Asuna shouted. Walking forward to face the redhead with her rapier drawn. "Do you realize this woman you are protecting has killed hundreds of players? Players like _you_. She may seem innocent, but that's her strongest trait."

The crimson girl remained unmoved, a slow breeze whisked around the air as they stared at each other. Finally, Asuna twitched. "Fine, don't believe me? I was informed a couple days ago. A couple weeks ago, a special shipment of supplies was being transported by a series of cargo carts. Armed with both NPC guards and quest recruited players. There had been a report of 2 roguish mercenaries under the same guild faction hijacking the cart. A man with red-brownish hair and dark clothes, and a dark haired woman with identical black shinobi-like apparel and the DLC weapon switchblade," Asuna spoke, pointing to the woman, and her blade just behind her. "She and her partner single handedly destroyed an entire HALF of the cart. An estimated 5 PK deaths and hundreds of NPC enemies were slaughtered."

"Did you know that same woman eliminated her own guild members? Players of red and orange cursors trying to make a name for themselves. Do you also know why they only made it halfway? There had been a reporting of a 'Glitch' in the system, a special item used to erase players status' was used and there had been reportings of that same black haired girl missing on the server lists," Ruby spoke, now shutting the latter up as she gave a cold glare, though the rest of the group was baffled by what was mentioned. "Now do you see? You only know what reports say about her, but you don't truly even begin to understand."

The redhead finally removed her hood, revealing her silver eyes, and a determined look as she stared at them. "I don't care if I have to take you all on," The redhead spoke, finally revealing her weapon to the crowd as they all gasped in shock and awe, spinning the scythe around before finally letting it rest in her signature pose. "I **won't** let you go near her!"

The group all stared in shock and awe at the woman before them. Most flabberghasted to see another DLC wielder, whilst the rest were astounded by how large her weapon was, despite her tiny size. Kirito and Asuna both had their weapons drawn, but their faces said otherwise as they stared skeptically at the girl. "Perhaps, we should-"

Before Kirito could finish his statement, the group decided to proceed without them as the redhead got into a readying stance, prepared to take them on at first chance. The opportunity never came, though. As a blockade of icicles separated the group from the red scythe wielder. Everyone turned their heads to find a young, white haired girl.

"Halt!" Weiss commanded, removing her rapier from the ground as two more women appeared out of the cropworks, weapons drawn and ready to fight.

The small group ran over to Ruby's side as they got into their signature stances as well. "Yang?" the redhead spoke in surprise. The blonde simply turned her head to the side as she smirked, soon noticing the downed woman beside her.

"She a friend of yours?" Yang asked.

"Something like that." the scythe wielder replied.

"Good enough for me," The blonde stated as she charged up her gauntlets in a fiery glow. "You want her, you'll have to go through me."

"Myself included," Winter spoke next, turning to Weiss. "What about you?"

"I'll follow, somebody's gotta protect the dolt." Weiss agreed, keeping her natural stance as she too charged up a sword skill.

Before anyone could make another move. A giant flash of red sped across the two sides, breaking the wall of ice in a fury of crystals. Everyone followed the light to find Asuna with her blade a glowing red. It dissipated as she simply spun it around in her grasp, before finally sheathing it.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted, turning around as she started to walk back. "I understand that you all want justice, but to plow your way through 4 young women without hesitation? Have some mercy."

The red leader's words started to resonate with the larger group as they all lowered their weapons, soon returning them in their holsters. Asuna let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you," She spoke, turning her head back over to the other group. "It's been a long day. I want to get at least some XP crunching done while there's still daylight out."

The redheaded woman walked over to the 4 girls covering the downed player, looking to the youngest. "I will look into this matter personally. If what you say is true, the charges will be dropped. But we can discuss these matters tomorrow. Before I go, I gotta say. You have bravery that not a lot of others possess. I think you'd make a great leader for the frontlines, should you consider it."

Yang's hand grabbed the younger redhead's shoulder as she gave the latter a cold glare. "Thanks, but I'd like to see my sis in one piece, if you don't mind me saying." She spoke.

"That's alright, I understand," Asuna returned. Turning to the rest of the group. "Same goes for everyone though, just think of it if you ever want to do something about beating this game."

And with that, Asuna turned back around, tugging the black clad man along as everyone else soon followed. Angry remarks and frustrated comments could be heard about them, but that was all that came out of them as they all went back home, leaving the reunited group alone,

And the raven haired girl below.


	11. Ghosts of the Past

Silence.

That's all she remembered after the accident. After days of waiting for her father to return, watching every person that passed the orphanage on the sidewalks, hoping one of them would turn towards it and come take her home. Every, single, person. And after weeks of waiting and watching and hoping, the crippling harsh reality sunk inside her, as the silence filled her mind,

and darkness plagued her heart.

Suddenly, she was in the backseat of a car, With what looked to be some woman driving. Though she couldn't make out who it was, or where they were going. It felt so familiar to her. She looked through her windowside almost instinctively to see an old beater pickup truck swerving all around the opposite lane. Her mind jolted in panic as she tried to speak, to warn the driver of the danger heading their way. But no words came out. No sound would leave her mouth no matter how hard she tried, screaming as loud as her lungs would until it hurt. But nothing came out of her as the pickup truck veered across the lane, making its way towards the car. The driver turned her head to look at her, finally remembering the event as her eyes started to water, and her heartstrings snapped and frayed and bent inside her. But it was too late.

" _M..mom."_

* * *

Blake jolted up in panic, breathing frantically as her eyes shook wildly. She panted heavily as she tried to regain her breath. Her eyes started watering as her lip wobbled. She tried to fight it, faltering only once as a few slipped past her and streaked down her cheek. But she wiped it away as her heart rate returned to normal and got out of bed. It wasn't until then that she realized: it wasn't her bed, neither was the room she was in as she looked around. The place wasn't recognizable at all. She'd been to quite a few hideouts, and at least half a dozen inns. But she couldn't make out the well-decorated room she was in as she started to search around. It didn't seem like any regular bedroom, but rather, someone else's. Blake began to rummage her memories, remembering the fight, and awaiting her impending death, before falling into unconsciousness.

"Was I, spared? Captured?" She questioned aloud to nobody in particular, a wave of unease filling her as she moved to the door. To her surprise, the knob turned with ease as the black cat sighed in relief. ' _Well, I wouldn't exactly be captured, per say.'_

The next question came to mind as she opened her menu, finding her weapon slot was still there, but not on her as she looked around the room. She easily found it on the table across the room, picking it up as she inspected it thoroughly.

' _This doesn't add up. I'm in a completely different house, but my weapons and gear are in-check. So how in the hell did I get here?'_

As if on cue, a couple sets of footsteps went by her door, her muscles reacting immediately as she waited for the door to open, only for the duo to continue down the hallway as Blake sighed in relief.

' _Okay, scratch that, I'm not captured, but rather, brought here.'_

An idea came to mind as Blake opened her menu, finding herself back on the first floor, though only seeming to puzzle her more. ' _I was on the 3rd floor just yesterday… okay, this is seriously starting to confuse me._

The black cat's thoughts halted as she shook her head, returning to the issue at hand. _'I can ponder on this later, right now, I should focus on getting out of here first._ '

Blake equipped her hooded cape as she made her way to the door, taking one last glance around the beautifully decorated room before turning the knob. She looked around the hallways, finding it clear as she exited the room and closed the door quietly. Her gait was silent as a shadow as she went down the wooden stairwell, finding a modern style pub at the main floor. Only a couple players were around after late-night levelling, although it mattered little to Blake as she made her way to the doors.

"Where do you think you're going?" A matured woman's voice questioned. The black cat stopped dead in her tracks as she turned to the voice, finding a woman clad in a white blouse and similar ivory hair. Upon first glance, she looked ready to pounce at her, had she stepped any further. Blake pulled out a simple kunai. Although she knew neither one could inflict damage in a safe zone. Least she could do was distract her, and hope to god she could escape quick enough.

The older woman stood up now, the cat shinobi readying her blade, though the former simply put up her hand in peace. "I'm not here to cross blades with you," The woman spoke, "I don't operate that way, neither does my team. The same team, might I add, that also rescued you from the other players that were all searching for you in the forest."

Blake's ears perked up in her hood as she watched the woman closely. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. You must have a thousand questions already at your disposal, and I am ready to answer them, should you spare the time." She added, piquing the latter's interest even more. Though a simple question came to mind as she squinted at her.

"Why should I trust your word?" Blake asked, the woman's expression remained unmoved. "For all I know, you're just after my head, just like the rest of them."

The woman frowned, and she looked on the verge of making a remark. But her expression softened as quickly as it started as she let out a sigh. "If it were my choice, yes, I would've handed you in. But our leader has ordered against it," The woman spoke, her words were soft and relaxed. "If you so wish to leave, by all means. I'm not here to chase down a wanderer, I'm simply here to protect my sister, and to one day escape this digital prison we're all entrapped in."

The woman turned around as she sat back down on the bar stool. Blake stood motionless for a moment, unsure if she could actually trust her, or whether to bolt it back to her safehouse. But her thoughts wagered for answers as she slowly and cautiously sat down on the bar stool next to the white haired woman, whom already had drinks at her disposal as she slid one to the former. The duo took a swig in unison, the awkward tension starting to rise in the black clad as she awaited something.

"I guess I should start with an introduction. My name is Winter Schnee," She began, turning to face Blake as she did the same. "And yes, the same Schnee name that supplies military forces with weapons and ammunition."

Winter Schnee. Blake had read up about her and her family once before. The Schnee name was the main supplier for both the military and gun-enthusiasts alike in North America. Though they resided in Japan, for 'safety relocation purposes'. The Schnee name was that of wealth and fortune, and their trademark attribute was their ivory hair and similar complexion. But Blake knew very well the impact their name had on society, with people bleaching their head just to try and feign a long-lost relative of theirs or skewing their names as to bring it about on media. Their notoriety has brought about a lot of mixed controversy. And so, they co-founded the nervegear project, in hopes to at least bring them in good light, as well as to be a part in one of the world's most revolutionary technologies to date. Though Blake knew their latest predicament would only deepen the wound, if not agitate it more now that thousands were trapped in the same gear she helped fund. So Blake couldn't help but give a light chuckle upon her response, earning the latter's attention.

"Oh? What's so funny," Winter questioned. "Never thought you'd be in the presence of a Schnee before?"

"I just find it ironic, the very co-founders of this technology and this game are now entrapped in it," Blake replied haughty. "So yeah, I never would've thought I'd get to see the very own Winter Schnee in avatar form before me."

The older woman gave a snort, raising her glass to the sky. "Well, cheers to that then." She spoke to herself more so than to Blake as she downed her drink in one swig before plunking it down on the table. She perched her elbow on said table as she turned her attention back to the black clad, whom had already lowered her hood.

"So… why can't you escape this game? How did you end up like the rest of us?" Blake asked, unsure at first, though her desire to learn more pushed her to proceed.

"I co-founded this technology, I didn't help them program it. If I could just leave, I would've already a long time ago," Winter stated. "And I came here the same way everyone else did, and I'm trapped here all the same too. I never knew he'd be capable of doing something like this. And now, we're all stuck here until we beat it."

Winter's last statement sounded more and more hopeless as she spoke. She turned back forward as she slumped against the bar table, a defeated sigh left her as she did. "It doesn't matter how you look at me now, 'cause at the end of the day, we're all in this, together," She spoke, turning her head to look Blake dead in the eyes. "I was a star once, an icon of the rich, a businesswoman. But that's all null and void here. Now I am a fighter, a protector, a player in this game of death. But above all else, I am an elder sibling. And I'll do whatever it takes to protect my sister and her friends, because that's who I am _here_."

Blake listened attentively, looking at the deadbeat seriousness in the alabaster woman's face. Winter simply planted her other elbow in the table as she intertwined her fingers together, looking like that of an evil genius as she thought. "But the true question remains; what're you gonna do?"

The black cat mentally paused as she pondered on it, not entirely certain what she should do. Her only goal being to hide away in her treehouse and never come out until the game was cleared, but even she knew that plan wouldn't last forever. So with a shrug, Blake replied. "I don't know. Hide away for some time, until my name isn't on everyone's hit list."

"And then what?" Winter questioned, Blake not knowing what else to say as she shrugged again. "What else are you gonna do here, other than hide and wait? You seem to forget, this isn't something that'll be over in a couple of weeks. Once you finally aren't being hunted, then what?"  
"I'm always being hunted, Winter," Blake deadpanned, surprising the heiress slightly. "There are some things I can't run and hide from forever. From the people, from my past. I don't know when, I don't know how. But all I do know is every minute I am here, I'm a face people will recognize. And people here don't care about who they sell out."

Blake stood up, adjusting her hood before stepping back. "I know we're all in this together, but I'm the only one fighting for what's right," She spoke, flipping her hood up before walking away. "And now, I pay the price, one way or another."

Before Winter could even stand, Blake exited the inn as she made her way to the teleport gates. The ivory woman walked out as she looked around for her, only to find nothing as she lowered her guard. Her mind puzzled with all that was told as she sighed, before finally turning in for the night.

* * *

Soft footsteps made its way through the forest, stepping over roots and fallen twigs on the ground below as it did. She paid no attention to her nearby surroundings and cared less about it as Blake trekked back to her safehouse. The cat girl never got to ask the million dollar question, instead burdened by even more as she pondered about what the woman said to her. Honour and trust wasn't Blake's strongest suit. In fact, it was her weakest; she rebelled from practically everything in life, and she never took part in any clubs or other activities at school. When it came to the cat shinobi, knowledge in information was her calling. Whether it be good or bad, understanding the basic fundamentals was a key trait to her. Knowing where to go, what to do and how to proceed kept the girl alive to the present day. Everything else was secondary for her, especially now that she was entrapped in a game of life or death. But for once, Blake could not comprehend the idea of some complete strangers saving her, neither could she understand why. There was no motive, no ulterior plan, and she wasn't captured nor imprisoned. So why bother with her? Why risk saving her? The black shinobi shook it off as she came to see her house in the trees, jumping up branch to branch until she finally made it to the walkway.

The door creaked open as she turned on the lights, though immediately, her senses alerted her as she stopped, knowing full well who it was as she let out a low sigh. "You don't have to hide anymore, I've already spotted you," Blake spoke, walking nonchalantly through the house as she sat down on the big lazy boy chair and crossed her legs. As on que, the distorted figure walked through the house before finally revealing her human form as Neo stood before her. Her usual brown and pink eyes gazing at her in a blank expression. "I had a feeling you'd come for me. Unfortunately, I don't have the urge to cross blades with you anymore. I'm tired of fighting, frankly."

The black cat shinobi let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes as she sat peacefully in the chair. "I've already turned off the safety barrier. So go ahead, finish me off," the black cat shinobi spoke unwaveringly, keeping her eyes shut as she awaited her fate. "I've no more reason to fight, I am content in surviving this long. Now go on, finish what you said you were going to do."

Blake took her blade out as she calmly rested it beside her on the side of the chair. She clasped her hands together in her lap, awaiting her demise as the other girl started to move. Blake could hear the shorter woman walk over to her, waiting for the piercing blow as the girl drew near. She could hear the girl doing something as she continued to wait, though no sound came afterwards as she expected to be impaled soon. She drew one calm breath in and out, awaiting her death. But nothing came, after a moment or two of waiting. The black clad assumed she'd go for it as soon as she finally looked, peering slowly and hastily as she opened one eye. What she saw took her by surprise as she finally opened her eyes, finding Neo sitting right in the chair beside her as she mimicked her stature. Upon notice, The pink-and-brown haired woman gave a calm smirk that left Blake baffled as she tried to comprehend what was going on.

' _D..did she kill me already? Am I seeing things? Did I miss the final blow or… what in the fuck is happening?'_

As if on cue, the younger girl's complexion softened as she finally made eye contact with the cat shinobi, noticing her dumbstriken look as she grinned again.

"Aren't you… aren't you gonna kill me?" Blake asked, still unsure of the whole situation. "What are you waiting for? I told you, I'm not gonna fight anymore."

"As am I." Neo finally spoke, catching Blake yet again off-guard as she mentally paused.

"Wait, what?" The raven haired girl spoke confusedly. "Then why are you here then? What was the point of waiting for me then?"

The younger girl let out a small chuckle, though sounding hollow and filtered made it sound like a mere autotune noise as she cleared her throat, before standing up again and walking away with her back to Blake. "I… I guess you don't remember then…"

' _Remember?'_ Blake thought, thinking of their short moments in the field and not much else. ' _I remember the fight. My god, am I truly dead? Is this just a bunch of last minute thoughts before I finally transcend from here?!'_

"It's okay though, it took me awhile before I realized too," Neo spoke, turning around as she peered into Blake's eyes, before sitting down at the adjacent chair. "I didn't recognise you at first either. It wasn't until I finally saw the wanted posters that I remembered."

"Remembered what?" Blake asked, sounding almost frustrated. "You were after my head one moment, now you somehow know me. Why the fuck should I believe in anything you say?"

" _Stockholm Orphanage_." Neo spoke. Blake's eyes widened as she remembered the place, the orphanage that she grew up in. It seemed to trigger the black clad woman as she got up from her seat, somehow ending up at the other end of the table. She almost grabbed Neo by the throat as she gripped the shorter girl's clothes and pulled her up.

"How the **fuck** do you know this? What are you, some stalker?!" Blake almost shouted, looking on the verge of sending her flying out her home.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Neo spoke, the former about to punch her out. "Both of us, we both suffered there, remember?"

Blake paused as she processed what was said. She could remember if she saw her before, but her thoughts were clouded with too many questions. "The only difference between you and I, my words were silenced."

And that's when she remembered; the small girl with pink hair. "You... you were the quiet girl,"

"The mute girl with heterochromia."


End file.
